2025 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election

The 2025 Liberal Democratic Party presidential election was held on 4 October 2025 to elect the next president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP). The election was triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister of Japan and LDP president Shigeru Ishiba, which was announced on 7 September 2025, amid infighting within the LDP and pressure for a snap election. Ishiba's resignation also came amid the LDP's poor performance in the 2024 Japanese general election and the 2025 Japanese House of Councillors election, which resulted in the party losing its majority in both chambers.

In this election, all five candidates that ran for the LDP leadership previously ran unsuccessful campaigns in the past. Running in the election were: former Minister of State for Economic Security Sanae Takaichi, Agricultural Minister Shinjirō Koizumi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former Economic Minister Takayuki Kobayashi and former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi. In the first round of voting, Takaichi came in first place during the first round of voting with 31.07% of the vote. Koizumi came in second with 27.84% of the vote, meaning that both Koizumi and Takaichi advanced to the runoff. In the runoff, Takaichi garnered 54.25% of the vote against Koizumi, resulting in the election of the LDP's first woman president.

Takaichi would become the first woman to serve as prime minister during the National Diet's extraordinary session. On 10 October, five days before the prime minister confirmation vote, Komeito withdrew its participation from the LDP-led coalition and vowed to vote against Takaichi as prime minister. Following this, the vote to confirm Takaichi was delayed until 20 October, and was afterwards again delayed to 21 October. It also resulted in the LDP's national ruling coalition collapsing and the creation of a new political crisis. On 19 October, after negotiations led by Takaichi, the Japan Innovation Party agreed to form a coalition with the LDP. A coalition partnership agreement was signed on 20 October and she became the country's first female prime minister on 21 October. Takaichi subsequently appointed all of her former rivals to her cabinet or to senior positions within the party.