Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has withdrawn from the contest to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations, ending her bid after a poor showing in the latest informal Security Council poll.

Bachelet announced her decision in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday. She said she had decided not to continue her candidacy and added that she did not regret taking on what she described as a major challenge, although she believed the timing was not right for the type of candidacy she wanted to represent.

The 74-year-old’s decision followed the third informal straw poll held by the 15-member Security Council. Bachelet received one encouraging vote, while 11 members marked her as discouraging and three expressed no opinion.

Grynspan leads latest poll

Rebeca Grynspan topped the latest poll with nine encouraging votes. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett followed with eight.

Other candidates still in the running include Rafael Grossi, Macky Sall and Maria Fernanda Espinosa. Grynspan heads the United Nations Trade and Development body.

Bachelet was nominated by Chile in February, with backing from Brazil and Mexico. Her withdrawal also ends her effort to become the first woman to lead the United Nations in its 80-year history.

An unofficial regional rotation had placed Latin America in line for the current selection cycle. However, the source report does not identify regional rotation as a formal requirement of the process. Peru’s Javier Perez de Cuellar remains the only Latin American to have held the United Nations’ top job.

How the selection process works

The Security Council must recommend a candidate to the General Assembly. A candidate needs at least nine votes in favour from the council’s 15 members and must avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Bachelet’s support had declined in successive informal polls. She received six encouraging votes in July and two in August before recording one in the latest round.

The next secretary-general will succeed Antonio Guterres, whose term ends on December 31. Guterres has warned that the United Nations faces “imminent financial collapse”, with $1.57bn in unpaid dues reported by the end of 2025.

He has also said divisions among major powers have left the organisation deadlocked over Gaza, Ukraine and other crises, while accusing some powerful states of violating international law despite holding seats on the Security Council.

The United Nations General Assembly’s annual high-level session was scheduled to open in New York on Tuesday under the theme “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation”.