Ultra-conservative Sanae Takaichi elected as Japan’s first PM

Lawmakers applaud as Sanae Takaichi is elected (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Japan’s parliament has elected ultra-conservative Sanae Takaichi as the country’s first female prime minister, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right.

Ms Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-month political vacuum and wrangling since the Liberal Democratic Party’s disastrous election loss in July.