Takahiro Yokomichi

Takahiro Yokomichi is a Japanese politician who belongs to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and was a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. A native of Sapporo, Hokkaidō and graduate of the University of Tokyo, he was elected to the first of his five terms in the House of Representatives in 1969 as a member of the Japan Socialist Party in the electoral district of his late father Setsuo. He left the House of Representatives and was elected to be the governor of Hokkaidō. He served for three terms from 1983 to 1995. After finishing his term as governor, he left the Socialist Party, joining the DPJ. In 1996 he was re-elected to the House of Representatives. He is the leader of the most left-leaning faction in the DPJ. After the victory of 2009 elections, then-DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama named him as the next house speaker of the House of Representatives.