View source for New Conservative Party (Japan)

{{Not to be confused with|Conservative Party of Japan}}
The '''New Conservative Party (NCP)''' was the name of two now-defunct political parties in Japan with a common lineage.

The first incarnation of the party ({{nihongo2|保守党}}, ''Hoshutō'', {{lit|Conservative Party}}) was founded on April 3, 2000 by 20 lower house and 6 upper house defectors from the [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1998)|Liberal Party]]. This party was dissolved briefly and then re-established (as {{nihongo2|保守新党}}, ''Hoshu Shintō'', {{lit|New Conservative Party}}) on December 25, 2002 in order to accommodate defectors from the [[Democratic Party of Japan]].

The party eventually merged with the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] after the 2003 election.

==First New Conservative Party==
{{Infobox political party
|logo          = 
|colorcode     = {{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan)}}
|leader        = [[Takeshi Noda]]
|founder       = [[Chikage Oogi]]
|foundation    = April 3, 2000
|dissolved     = December 23, 2002
|split         = [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1998)|Liberal Party]]
|successor     = New Conservative Party <small>(2002)</small>
|ideology      = [[Conservatism]]
|website       = [https://web.archive.org/web/20021128224356/http://www.hoshutoh.com/ http://www.hoshutoh.com/]
|country       = Japan}}

In 2000, [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1998)|Liberal Party]] leader [[Ichiro Ozawa]] decided to take his party out of its coalition with the ruling conservative [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) and go into opposition. However, some of his party members wanted to remain in the government, and thus defected to form the New Conservative Party.<ref name="20000404Noda">{{cite news |title=Noda faction names party Conservative |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/2000/04/04/announcements/noda-faction-names-party-conservative/ |work=The Japan Times |date=4 April 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410103918/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/2000/04/04/announcements/noda-faction-names-party-conservative/ |archive-date=10 April 2016}}</ref>

[[Takeshi Noda]] had been favored to be founding president, but he opted to become the secretary-general. [[Toshiki Kaifu]] also declined the position, so [[Chikage Oogi]], a former [[Takarazuka Revue|Takarazuka]] actress, was selected as party president.<ref name="20000404Noda"/><ref>The Japan Times [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20000617b4.html Ogi's New Conservatives aim to lay Japan's 'moral ground'] Retrieved on August 7, 2012</ref><ref>The Japan Times [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20000614a1.html COALITION HYPED, DECRIED Party chiefs launch campaigns June 14, 2000] Retrieved on August 7, 2012</ref>

The New Conservative Party became part of a three-party ruling coalition with the LDP and [[New Komeito]]. This incarnation of the party was dissolved on December 23, 2002.<ref name="japantimes2002"/>

===Leaders===
{|class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|No.
!rowspan=2|Name
!rowspan="2"|Image
!colspan=2|Term of office
|-
!Took office
!Left office
|-
| style="background:lightblue;" colspan="5"|'''Preceding party: [[Liberal Party (Japan, 1998)|Liberal Party]]'''
|- 
|1
|[[Chikage Oogi]]
|[[File:Chikage Ogi 2006.png|100px]]
|April 3 2000
|September 2001
|-
|2
|[[Takeshi Noda]]
|[[File:Takeshi Noda.jpg|100px]] 
|September 2001
|December 2002
|-
| style="background:lightblue;" colspan="5"|'''Successor party: New Conservative Party (2002)'''
|}

==Second New Conservative Party==
{{Infobox political party
|logo          = File:Party472.png
|colorcode     = {{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan, 2002)}}
|leader        = {{ill|Hiroshi Kumagai|ja|熊谷弘}}
|foundation    = December 25, 2002
|dissolved     = November 10, 2003
|merger        = New Conservative Party <small>(2000)</small><br /> [[Democratic Party of Japan]] <small>(defectors)</small>
|merged        = [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]
|ideology      = [[Conservatism]]<br />[[Reformism]]
|position      = [[Right-wing politics|Right-wing]]
|website       = [https://web.archive.org/web/20031022101029/http://www.hoshushintoh.com/ http://www.hoshushintoh.com/]
|country       = Japan}}

Japan's Public Offices Election Law prohibits lawmakers that were elected to [[proportional representation]] seats from [[party switching|switching]] to a party that they had competed against in the last election without first resigning their seat, so the original incarnation of the New Conservative Party was unable to accept defectors from the [[Democratic Party of Japan]] (DPJ) into its ranks.

The dissolution and re-establishment of the party on December 25, 2002 created a new legal entity, unconstrained by this rule. This allowed {{ill|Hiroshi Kumagai|ja|熊谷弘}} and four other disgruntled DPJ members ({{ill|Takao Satō|ja|佐藤敬夫}}, [[Yoichiro Esaki]], [[Zenjiro Kaneko]] and [[Eriko Yamatani]]) to form the new party together with nine members from its previous incarnation, with Kumagai becoming the party leader.<ref name="japantimes2002">The Japan Times [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20021225a3.html Kumagai to form 'new party' with NCP and DPJ defectors December 25 2002] Retrieved on August 7, 2012</ref><ref name="47n">{{cite news |title=保守新党１４人で結成大会　江崎洋一郎氏も参加へ |url=http://www.47news.jp/CN/200212/CN2002122501000121.html |work=47news.jp |date=25 December 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517023818/http://www.47news.jp/CN/200212/CN2002122501000121.html |archive-date=17 May 2013}}</ref> The new party took over the role of its predecessor in the LDP-led ruling coalition.<ref name="47n"/>

The party was a [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[reformist]] party and was very [[right-wing]]. After the [[2003 Japan general election|November 2003 general election]], the New Conservative Party was left with only four members in the House of Representatives, down from nine prior to the election. Among the losers in the election was the party president, Hiroshi Kumagai.

On November 10, 2003, then-[[Koizumi Junichiro|Prime Minister Koizumi]] proposed that the NCP merge with the LDP. The secretary-general of the NCP, [[Toshihiro Nikai]], confirmed the merger, stating "We humbly received the proposal and, after discussion within the party, we agreed to accept the proposal to deliver the policies we promised to voters."

===Leaders===
{|class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|No.
!rowspan=2|Name
!rowspan="2"|Image
!colspan=2|Term of office
|-
!Took office
!Left office
|-
| style="background:lightblue;" colspan="5"|'''Preceding party: New Conservative Party (2000)'''
|- 
|1
|Hiroshi Kumagai
|[[File:Portrait gray.png|100px]]
|December 25 2002 
|November 10 2003
|-
| style="background:lightblue;" colspan="5"|'''Successor party: [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]'''
|}

== Electoral results ==

=== House of Representatives ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
|-
!Election
!Leader
!# of seats won
!# of Constituency votes
! % of Constituency vote
!# of PR Block votes
! % of PR Block vote
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[2000 Japanese general election|2000]]
|[[Chikage Oogi]]
| {{Composition bar|7|480|hex={{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan)}}}} 
|1,230,464
|2.02%
|247,334
|0.41%
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[2003 Japanese general election|2003]]
|Hiroshi Kumagai
| {{Composition bar|4|480|hex={{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan, 2002)}}}} 
|791,588
|1.33	
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|}

===House of Councillors===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ [[House of Councillors (Japan)|House of Councillors]]
|-
!Election
!Leader
!No. of seats total
!No. of seats won
!No. of National votes
!% of National vote
!Majority/minority
|-style="text-align:center;"
![[2001 Japanese House of Councillors election|2001]]
|[[Chikage Oogi]]
|{{composition bar|4|247|hex={{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan)}}}}
|{{composition bar|1|121|hex={{party color|New Conservative Party (Japan)}}}}
|1,275,002
|2.33
|{{no2|Minority}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[Politics of Japan]]
*[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)]]
*[[2003 Japan general election]]

{{Liberal Democratic Party of Japan}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in Japan]]
[[Category:2000 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:2003 disestablishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 2000]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 2003]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Japan]]