Sanae Takaichi emerged victorious in Japan's ruling party leadership race on Saturday, a contest dominated by male rivals, positioning her to become the country's first female prime minister and follow in the footsteps of her idol, Margaret Thatcher.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected Takaichi (64) to rebuild public trust eroded by soaring prices and growing support for opposition parties vowing massive stimulus and tougher immigration controls.

"Rather than being happy, I feel like the tough work starts here," Takaichi told fellow LDP lawmakers following her win.

According to news agency Reuters , Japan's Parliament is expected to vote on October 15 to elect a new prime minister to succeed Shigeru Ishiba. After losing last year's Liberal Democratic Party leadership run-o

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