Former Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjiro has announced he will run to become leader of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party. The winner of the race is expected to become Japan's next prime minister.

Koizumi said: "I will run in the LDP's presidential election. The only way for the LDP to truly change is not to choose a leader who advocates reform, but a leader who can overwhelmingly accelerate reform. If I become prime minister and party president, I will explain the direction of reform to be realized within a year and structural reform with an eye on the mid- to long-term. I would like to dissolve the Lower House as soon as possible and seek a public mandate on the reform plans."

The 43-year-old first won a seat in the 2009 Lower House race, succeeding his father, former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. He was only 28 at the time.

Koizumi was chosen as environment minister in the Abe Shinzo Cabinet in 2019. At age 38, he was the third-youngest Cabinet minister since the end of World War Two.