Who is Yoshihide Suga, Japan's next prime minister?

Japan’s governing party has elected Yoshihide Suga as its new leader to succeed Shinzo Abe. Last month Mr Abe announced his resignation for reasons of ill health.

On Monday, Sep 14, Suga was voted in as the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), securing about 70% of the votes, paving the way for the 71-year-old to become Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote later this week.

Yoshihide Suga was born on December 6, 1948, to a strawberry farmer and a schoolteacher in rural Japan. Suga helped out in the fields as a child and, as the eldest son, was expected to eventually take on the family business. But, he enrolled at Hosei University in 1969.

According to BBC, Yoshihide’s political journey began when he worked on a parliamentary election campaign soon after graduating from Tokyo’s Hosei University.

He later worked as a secretary to a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker, before embarking on his own political career. Later, in 1987, he was elected to the Yokohama City Council, and in 1996 he was elected to Japan’s Diet for the first time.

In 2005, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed him senior vice minister of internal affairs and communication.

Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga  close became close over their shared passion for securing the return of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Suga received his first Cabinet position during Abe’s first stint in power from 2006 to 2007.

His relationship with Mr Abe continued when the latter returned as prime minister in 2012 and appointed him to the influential post of Chief Cabinet Secretary. Abe went on to become the country’s longest-serving leader since the end of World War II.

Suga was Abe’s right-hand man the entire time, serving as the Prime Minister’s cabinet secretary, a role akin to a combination of chief of staff and press secretary.

In an address to his party after his election win on Monday, Suga repeated his pledge to continue Abe’s policies when he becomes Japan’s 63rd prime minister.