Tokyo Governor Koike: no intention at all to return to national politics

FILE PHOTO: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike holds a placard reading: "Short-term intensive infection control measure", a slogan about the city's response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at a news conference, in Tokyo, Japan November 25, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, floated in the past as a potential future prime minister, told a news conference on Friday that she had "no intention at all" to return to national politics.

Koike, who defied the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 2016 to make a successful bid to become Tokyo's governor, was commenting on a report that LDP heavyweight Toshihiro Nikai had said he would welcome it if she returned to parliament.