Full story
UN SG Race Tightens
The United Nations Security Council held its second non-binding straw poll on Friday in the race to select the next UN secretary-general, with Guyana’s Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett emerging as the frontrunner ahead of seven other declared candidates.
“Guyana’s Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett emerging as the frontrunner ahead of seven other declared candidates”
Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen of Denmark, the council’s president for August, confirmed that the vote had concluded and said the candidates would be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of the member states that nominated them.
In the results circulated after the poll, Rodrigues Birkett received eight “encourage” votes, three “discourage” votes and four members offering no opinion, while Rebeca Grynspan and Rafael Grossi each collected seven “encourage” votes.
The straw polls are intended to gauge support among the council’s 15 members and gradually narrow the field before a formal recommendation goes to the UN General Assembly, with a candidate needing at least nine votes in a formal UNSC vote to advance.
The process is set against the backdrop of Antonio Guterres’s second five-year term ending on December 31, with the next secretary-general facing the challenge of maintaining the standing of the UN, which critics say has not been able to prevent or end conflicts and crises around the world.
Encourage, Discourage, Veto
PassBlue’s analysis of the second secret straw poll said Rodrigues Birkett is the front-runner with just three “discourage” votes, while María Fernanda Espinosa also had three “discourage” votes and Rebeca Grynspan had four “discourage” votes.
The same account said the ballots do not distinguish whether a vote comes from one of the five veto-wielding permanent members or one of the other ten Security Council members, with color-coded ballots coming later in the process.
PassBlue also reported that Rafael Grossi jumped from just two “discourage” votes in the first straw poll to six today, increasing the chance that one of those votes came from a P5 member.
Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told reporters, “The second round of straw polls has taken place,” and said the candidates would be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of nominating member states.
The stakes are shaped by the requirement that a candidate needs at least nine votes in the Security Council to secure the required support, while any of the five permanent members—the US, China, France, Russia, and the UK—can block a candidate with a veto.
Europe Watches UN Leadership
As the Security Council’s second straw poll narrows the field, the race is also being framed as a test for the UN’s ability to function amid deep divisions, with Time describing members weighing who should succeed António Guterres when he completes his final term in December.
“whoever succeeds Guterres will simply have to continue to do “less with less””
Time says major powers have repeatedly blocked the U.N. from intervening in crises from Ukraine to Myanmar, and it highlights that the U.S. rolling back funding leaves whoever succeeds Guterres to continue to do “less with less” while managing a process of institutional decline.
The same Time account points to the Security Council’s five permanent veto-wielding members—the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France—as repeatedly blocking intervention, and it notes that after the Trump Administration cut off the bulk of U.S. funding for its operations in 2025, U.N. officials were spending time wondering about how to pay the bills.
In the straw-poll process itself, PassBlue said the lead is narrow and that “we just don’t know” whether opposition to the leading candidates is coming from a P5 member until color-coded ballots are introduced later.
The next secretary-general will be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council, with the UN General Assembly president also to be informed that the straw poll had concluded.