Next UN chief: Grynspan keeps narrow lead in first colour-coded poll, but every frontrunner faces two vetoes

Key takeaways

• The UN Security Council held another secret straw poll on Friday, 16 October, to narrow the field for the next Secretary-General.
• For the first time in this race, ballots were colour-coded, so candidates can see whether a veto-holding power opposes them.
• Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan stayed narrowly ahead with 9 "encourage", 5 "discourage" and 1 "no opinion" vote, according to results reported by Reuters and PassBlue.
• Grynspan, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and Argentina's Rafael Grossi each received two "discourage" votes from permanent members, so no one is clear yet.
• Guterres's term ends on 31 December 2026, and diplomats say new candidates may still enter.

How the poll works

The 15 Security Council members mark each candidate as "encourage", "discourage" or "no opinion". To be recommended to the 193-member General Assembly, a candidate needs at least nine encourage votes and no "discourage" vote from any of the five permanent members (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States).

In earlier rounds all ballots looked the same. On Friday the permanent members used one colour and the ten elected members another, which revealed for the first time where the vetoes lie. The results are not officially published; they were reported by Reuters, citing people close to the process, and by PassBlue and the campaign group 1 for 8 Billion. Reuters and PassBlue described it as the sixth straw poll.

The results so far

Figures as reported by Reuters, PassBlue and 1 for 8 Billion. Full breakdown for Grossi's discourage and no-opinion votes was not given in the reports we read. Which permanent members voted against each candidate has not been disclosed.

Only Grynspan reached the nine-vote threshold. PassBlue reports that Ivonne A-Baki, nominated by Tonga, received just one encourage vote, and that the other remaining candidates drew more opposition than support.

What the candidates and envoys say

Grynspan, a 70-year-old economist and former Costa Rican vice-president, told Reuters before the vote that she "wouldn't be surprised" to receive a veto and that such votes can be overcome through negotiation.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz said after the poll that countries were free to nominate more candidates, adding that Washington would prefer this to happen before the end of Guterres's term, according to PassBlue.

All three leading candidates come from Latin America and the Caribbean, a point Panama's deputy envoy highlighted, noting support for the informal idea of regional rotation.

Why it matters for Pakistan

Pakistan is one of the ten elected members of the Security Council this year, so it has a vote in these straw polls. Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson also took questions on the UN chief's election at Friday's weekly briefing. How Pakistan voted has not been made public.

What happens next

• No date has been set for the next straw poll, PassBlue reports.
• Weaker candidates are expected to drop out, while diplomats say some senior figures are considering joining late.
• Once the Council agrees on one name, it sends a recommendation to the General Assembly for appointment; the new Secretary-General would take office in January 2027.

This is a developing story; results are leaked rather than officially released and may be updated.