Japan's vaccines minister Kono leads opinion poll on succeeding Suga

FILE PHOTO: Taro Kono, Japan's vaccination programme chief and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker, attends a news conference as he announces his candidacy for the party's presidential election in Tokyo, Japan, September 10, 2021. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's minister in charge of vaccines, Taro Kono, led a public opinion poll on who should succeed Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Kono had 27% support in the poll by the Nikkei newspaper and TV Tokyo that asked who would be "the right person" to lead the party and become the next prime minister.