This article was published on Passblue, on November 1st, 2025. You can read it here.
The results are in from our recent informal readers’ survey on who should be the next UN secretary-general for the five-year term starting in 2027.
The voting is as follows:
Michelle Bachelet of Chile finished with a commanding victory, taking more than 29 percent of the vote. That percentage is more than double the votes of her top challenger, María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, who finished with 13.7%. Third was Mia Mottley of Barbados with 8.9% of the vote.
Colombe Cahen-Salvador, a French political activist running for secretary-general from outside the UN system, ran a strong write-in campaign, ending up with 7.8% of the vote. The other top three write-in candidates, but garnering less than 1% each: Francesca Albanese, Jacinda Ardern and Sigrid Kaag.
The survey was done from Oct. 18 to Oct. 26, 2025. (Our first informal poll on who should lead the UN was done in April 2024: compare the results with this year’s.)
We look forward to hearing your response in the comment section under the story as the process to select the next UN leader has been kicked off by three candidates who have declared they are running so far: Bachelet, Rebeca Grynspan (of Costa Rica) and Rafael Mariano Grossi (of Argentina). Please send tips to [email protected]. Messages will be kept confidential.
The results for the Top 10 are listed in the table below.
| Placement | Candidate | Percent of Vote |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michelle Bachelet of Chile | 29.1% |
| 2 | María Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador | 13.7% |
| 3 | Mia Mottley of Barbados | 8.9% |
| 4 | Colombe Cahen-Salvador* | 7.8% |
| 5 | Virginia Gamba of Argentina | 6.9% |
| 6 | Tanja Fajon of Slovenia | 6.5% |
| 7 | Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica | 5.6% |
| 8 | Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina | 4.7% |
| 9 | Amina Mohammed of Nigeria | 4.0% |
| 10 | María Angela Holguín of Colombia | 3.5% |
*Write-in Candidate