Since Shinzo Abe plunged his party into crisis by suddenly resigning last week, Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Aso have been inseparable. The two men running to replace him as president of the Liberal Democratic party – and hence prime minister – have travelled together by bus and air to give campaign speeches around Japan ahead of Sunday’s election.

Indeed, both men have the same goal: preservation of the LDP. But their different policies and styles reveal a fight for the soul of the party after the Abe debacle.