[1] President of the LDP and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced on 3 September that he would not run for his re-election, amid low approval ratings and media reports of dissension within the party.

[4] He successfully led the LDP to three consecutive general election victories in 2012, 2014 and 2017 and assumed the premiership as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history.

[5] On 28 August 2020, Abe suddenly announced that he would resign as Prime Minister and LDP President following a resurgence of his ulcerative colitis.

[2] Suga had initially announced that he would run for re-election for a full term as LDP President in advance of the 2021 general election.

[2] Suga's withdrawal from the race as well as the fact that most of the LDP's internal factions have declined to endorse a specific candidate led to the election being described as wide open and unpredictable.

[52] His campaign was endorsed by Suga and other high ranking LDP members,[53] but Kishida narrowly won the first round of the election and ultimately defeated Kono in the run-off.