Rebeca Grynspan widened her lead in the UN secretary-general race after topping the fourth informal Security Council straw poll, securing 10 "encourage" votes, three "discourage" and two "no opinion" marks. Seven candidates remain, with Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in second place with eight endorsements. Even with Council support, any of the five permanent members can still veto a nominee; once the Security Council clears a candidate, the General Assembly then votes to confirm the appointment. The straw-poll process remains informal and may later use colour-coded ballots to reveal potential P5 vetoes.
Rebeca Grynspan Takes Lead in UN Secretary-General Race After Fourth Straw Poll
The UN is holding a fourth straw poll to gauge support for candidates vying to become its secretary-general (Fabrice COFFRINI)
Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica appears to have strengthened her position in the contest to become the next UN secretary-general after the fourth informal Security Council straw poll on Tuesday, a diplomat said.
Grynspan, who leads the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has finished first in three of the four straw polls to date. According to an anonymous diplomat whose account matched specialist UN media reports, she received 10 "encourage" votes on Tuesday, alongside three "discourage" marks and two "no opinion" tallies.
Seven candidates remain in the running — four women and three men — competing to succeed outgoing secretary-general Antonio Guterres of Portugal, whose second five-year term ends on 31 December 2026. Guyanese former foreign minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett was the runner-up in Tuesday's poll with eight endorsements.
Other Contenders
Diplomats listed the following additional candidates: Rafael Grossi (Argentina), head of the UN nuclear watchdog; Macky Sall (Senegal); Ivonne A-Baki (Ecuador); Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador); and Olara Otunnu (Uganda).
What The Straw Poll Shows — And Limits
The Security Council straw poll is informal and intended to signal support. Even if a candidate wins the minimum nine votes among the 15 Council members, that candidate must also avoid a veto from any of the five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) before being recommended to the UN General Assembly for confirmation.
France's UN envoy and rotating Security Council president, Jérôme Bonnafont, confirmed that Tuesday's vote concluded without the colour-coded ballots that later reveal which votes come from permanent members.
Historically, after an unspecified number of straw polls, the ballots of the five permanent members are differentiated by colour so potential vetoes can be identified — without publicly attributing any specific veto to a particular country. That mechanism was introduced in the early 1980s to help break deadlocks when candidates were repeatedly blocked by vetoes.
Next Steps
Campaigning has continued during the UN General Assembly week in New York, where several contenders reportedly met world leaders. If a candidate clears Security Council support without incurring a P5 veto, the Council's recommendation goes to the General Assembly for a full-member vote to confirm the new secretary-general.
By long-standing convention, the secretary-generalship typically rotates among regions; on that basis this round has seen several strong candidates from Latin America, though contenders from Africa remain in the field.
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