Japan's 'Iron Lady' Takaichi forges stunning election win

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's coalition swept to a historic election win on Sunday, paving the way for promised tax cuts that have spooked financial markets and military spending aimed at countering China.



The conservative Takaichi, Japan's first female leader who says she is inspired by Britain's "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher, was projected to deliver as many as 328 of the 465 seats in parliament's lower house for her Liberal Democratic Party.



The LDP alone sailed past the 233 seats needed for a majority less than two hours after polls closed, on track for one of its best-ever election results.



With her coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, Takaichi now has a supermajority of two-thirds of seats, easing her legislative agenda as she can override the upper chamber, which she does not control.