Rebeca Grynspan appears to be consolidating her lead in the race to succeed António Guterres as Secretary-General of the United Nations. In the latest informal Security Council straw poll, the Costa Rican candidate secured 12 encouragement votes and 3 discouragement votes, with no abstentions. In second place is Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the current Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, with 9 encouragement votes, 4 discouragement votes, and 2 abstentions.
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Turkish candidate Feridun Sinirlioglu collapses in straw poll
Notably, Turkish candidate Feridun Sinirlioglu suffered a dramatic collapse in the latest poll, receiving just 3 encouragement votes against 8 discouragement votes, along with 4 abstentions. It is worth noting that Greece is currently participating in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.
Full results of the informal straw poll
Votes are presented in the following order: encourage, discourage, abstain.
- Grynspan: 12-3-0
- Grossi: 9-4-2
- Birkett: 8-5-2
- Nusseibeh: 7-6-2
- Sinirlioglu: 3-8-4
- Olara: 4-9-2
- Espinoza: 3-10-2
- Baki: 1-14-0
UN Security Council 8th straw-poll results for selection of next UN chief: Rebeca Grynspan 12 encourage, 3 discourage, 0 no opinion Rafael Grossi 9-4-2 Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett 8-5-2 Lana Nusseibeh 7-6-2 Feridun Sinirlioglu 3-8-4
— PassBlue (@pass_blue) November 5, 2026