The former Japanese foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, is to become the country’s new prime minister.

He won Wednesday’s leadership election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

He is expected to succeed Yoshihide Suga as Japan’s premier on Monday, based on the LDP majority in the lower house of parliament.

The 64-year-old beat Taro Kono, the minister for the Coronavirus vaccination campaign, for the top party job in a run-off vote.

Mr Suga threw in the trowel as Japan’s leader after just one year in power.

He had garnered much criticism for his handling of the Coronavirus crisis and unpopular decision to go ahead with the Olympics despite the pandemic.

Mr Kishida would have to work quickly to improve the party’s tarnished image among Japan’s public, before the parliament’s lower house election scheduled for November.

Mr Kishida, who stems from the city of Hiroshima and comes from a political dynasty, has previously been doveish on foreign policy issues.

He has struck a more hawkish tone recently, however, in a possible effort to secure the approval of conservatives around influential ex-premier Shinzo Abe.

Mr Kishida wants to bolster Japan’s defence and expand the military budget.

Like his predecessors, he supports Japan’s close security alliance with the United States and wants to form a counterweight to China’s growing might, together with democratic partners in Europe and Asia.

His economic policy centres on a “new capitalism” to reduce the gap between rich and poor, which was exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Kishida was close to the Nippon Kaigi, a strong nationalist lobby group, favours nuclear power and wants to promote clean energy technologies to create new growth areas.

He wants to boost the Covid-ravaged economy with a large stimulus package.

Ultimately, Mr Abe’s foreign and economic policy legacy was at stake after his many years in power.

It remains to be seen whether Mr Kishida can emerge from Abe’s shadow.

Before it came to the run-off, there had been two other candidates for the top job – the staunchly national-conservative former interior minister Sanae Takaichi (who was supported by Mr Abe) and the more liberal former minister for gender equality, Seiko Noda.