Japan is set to have its first female prime minister as Sanae Takaichi has been elected leader of its long-governing party.
Takaichi, 64, beat out her competitor Shinjiro Koizumi to become the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who have been in power almost continuously since 1955.
She is likely to become the country's first ever female prime minister on October 15 after a special session of the National Diet (the national legislature of Japan).
Despite this historic first, Takaichi is a divisive figure in the Japanese political landscape.
Dubbed Japan's 'Iron Lady', she cites Margaret Thatcher as her inspiration and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative vision for Japan.
