Takaichi will replace Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party's disastrous election loss in July

xTOKYO: Japanese parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister Tuesday. Takaichi, 64, head of the struggling Liberal Democratic Party, replaces Shigeru Ishiba, who was forced into resignation after two disastrous election losses.

Ishiba, who lasted only one year in office, resigned with his Cabinet earlier Tuesday, paving the way for his successor. The LDP's off-the-cuff alliance with the Osaka-based rightwing Japan Innovation Party, or Ishin no Kai, ensures her premiership in a vote later in the day because the opposition is not united. Takaichi's untested allia

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