Sanae Takaichi ahead in Japanese election
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Japan's first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is projected to win in the snap election, while in Thailand a party calling for liberal change is challenging for power again. We report live from Tokyo and Bangkok.
Also in the programme: a Russian soldier who fought in Ukraine, fled to Kazakhstan and now faces possible deportation back to Russia, tells us why he deserted; the chief executive of The Washington Post steps down after sacking 300 journalists; and sixty years after the Monkees were formed to rival the Beatles, we hear from the last surviving member, Micky Dolenz.
(IMAGE: TV staff gesture in the direction of the cameras as Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), gives an interview at the LDP headquarters on general election day in Tokyo, Japan, February 8, 2026 / CREDIT: Kim Kyung-Hoon/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock (16528062x))
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | BBC World Service, you're listening to NewsHour with Owen Bennett-Jones, and it's Election Day in Japan, |
| 0:15.7 | and the country's first female Prime Minister, Sana'a Takeichi, who called the vote, is seeking enough backing to form a stable Liberal Democratic Party government. |
| 0:26.0 | Now, the LDP is used to holding power in Japan. It's basically been in charge almost continuously since 1955. |
| 0:33.7 | But recent elections, 24, 25, showed that the LDP had lost support. |
| 0:39.1 | The question today then, can she restore the party to its predominant position? |
| 0:45.0 | Here are a couple of voters outside a polling station in Tokyo. |
| 0:51.1 | Takeichi has a slightly different vibe compared to what we've seen so far in the political scene, |
| 0:55.9 | so I'm feeling somewhat hopeful. That's why I voted. |
| 0:59.2 | Well, I know it's not just because she's a woman. Ultimately, I really want Takaiichi to do well. |
| 1:18.4 | So let's have a look at what the challenges are, indeed, what the early results are saying, |
| 1:22.0 | and what this new government might need to deal with when it's in place. |
| 1:28.0 | John Nilsen Wright is a professor of Japanese politics at the Center for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Thank you very much, Professor. The early results suggest that she has indeed done |
| 1:33.7 | pretty well. Yes, it looks as if she will have secured not just a majority, but potentially |
| 1:40.8 | what's called a supermajority, which would be 310 seats or more out of the 465 seats in the lower house of the Japanese Parliament. |
| 1:50.0 | That is a, if it's true, a decisive win for Takehi. |
| 1:56.0 | She has, I think, benefited from her popularity with young voters who have warmed to her somewhat |
| 2:02.6 | maverick style. She's a strong leader. She models herself on Margaret Thatcher. And if these |
| 2:09.3 | polls are to be believed, she will now be in a commanding position to push through her agenda, |
| 2:14.6 | which will be continuing sort of loose fiscal policy, trying to address the cost |
| 2:19.8 | of living crisis for ordinary Japanese voters. |
| 2:22.9 | But there's a big question mark over that, because it's going to be quite expensive. |
... |
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