Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan’s Former Environment Minister, to Run for LDP Presidency; 43-Year-Old Son of Ex-PM Aims to Bring ‘Change’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:23 JST, August 21, 2024

Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has decided to run in the Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, to be held on Sep. 27, sources report. He is still considering when to officially announce his candidacy. Several LDP members are expected to announce their candidacies in the coming weeks, with Sept. 12 set as the start of the 15-day official campaigning period to decide who will succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as the LDP president.

Koizumi, 43, is said to have told people close to him of his decision by saying: “I have to seriously contest this election in order to change the party. It’s not a matter of simply putting a new face on it.” He has reportedly started to ask fellow LDP Diet members for their support.

Koizumi has been elected five times to the House of Representatives from the Kanagawa 11th electoral district. As the son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the younger Koizumi is well known and is consistently ranked high in Yomiuri Shimbun’s nationwide opinion polls as a good candidate for the next Prime Minister.

According to Koizumi’s circle, he is on track to secure the necessary 20 nominations from LDP Diet members for his candidacy and has cross-factional support as well as support from members unaffiliated with factions.

Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, 49, has already announced his candidacy. It is rare for an LDP presidential election to have two candidates in their 40s, meaning that generational change, in addition to party reform, is likely to be an issue in the race.

Digital minister Taro Kono, 61, is likely to announce on Monday that he is also running. Former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba, 67, who had been making arrangements to announce his own candidacy as early as Thursday, will make that announcement Saturday in his native Tottori Prefecture.