The Liberal Democratic Party’s new president, Sanae Takaichi, is often compared to Margaret Thatcher, the iconic British prime minister.
It’s intended to be a flattering comparison, but the analogy doesn’t work. Japan today is not Britain in the 1980s, the LDP is not Thatcher’s Conservative Party and Takaichi’s success depends on her being pragmatic, not dogmatic. “The Iron Lady” is neither the best comparison nor a good role model.
Takaichi prevailed in the LDP election because she invoked the party’s golden years under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Takaichi styled herself the inheritor of his mantle, a conservative nationalist who projects confidence and purpose. Abe viewed her as a protege and many of the party’s conservatives are ready to accept that characterization of her.
Her determination to raise Japan’s international profile, her tough appraisal of the regional security environment, her skepticism of China and her readiness to spend more on defense all evoke both Abe and Thatcher.
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