United Nations—The Security Council held its first straw poll for the next secretary-general of the United Nations on Thursday, and a short list of three diplomats with strong political leadership and U.N. experience emerged.

Antonio Guterres, former Portuguese prime minister and a past head of the U.N.'s refugee organization, was the clear leader of the pack, with 12 votes of support from the Security Council out of 15 possible votes. There were no votes in opposition. That result signaled that none of the veto-holding five permanent powers of the Council opposed his candidacy, although how each member of the Council votes isn't disclosed.

The former president of Slovenia, Danilo Turk, ranked second, with 11 votes in favor and two against.

Bulgaria's Irina Bokova, a former acting foreign minister and currently head of Unesco, ranked third with nine positive and four negative votes. Ms. Bokova is one of six women nominated for the post, but the only one who made it to the shortlist, despite a strong preference voiced by a majority of U.N. member states that the next secretary-general be a woman.

Diplomats said the result of the straw poll shows a broad sentiment among U.N. member states for a strong, experienced and charismatic leader capable of reinvigorating the U.N.'s position globally.

"It's interesting that one candidate was the clear leader and did very well. We were expecting that everyone be in the middle ground, but it's quite a wide spread," said a Security Council diplomat.

Diplomats said a final pick will most likely will come in October and the new Secretary-General will succeed the outgoing Ban Ki-moon on Jan. 1 for a five-year term.

The race for the U.N.'s top job was transformed this year from a traditionally opaque selection process. The names and mission statements of candidates were made public for the first time in order to open the process to more transparency and wider input.

Candidates were nominated by their countries and engaged in a number of public and private debates and talks with General Assembly member states as well representatives from civil society.

Before this year, the names of candidates for the top job at the U.N. were tightly-held, and the winner was chosen by the Security Council behind closed doors and recommended to the 194-member General Assembly for a final stamp of approval.

A U.N. resolution last September changed the process in what President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft called "a potential game-changer for the United Nations."

Of the overall 12-candidate field, six are women, and eight hail from Eastern Europe, in an unofficial but widely accepted tradition of geographically rotating the top job.

Diplomats say Russia is pushing for an Eastern European secretary-general because the region hasn't had a candidate in the top job. "If you are talking about an Eastern European [secretary-general], Russia does have a crucial role to play," said a Security Council diplomat.

The new leader will inherit a slate of challenges. The organization's relevance has been damaged by its inability to mediate a solution to Syria's ongoing conflict. The U.N.'s credibility has also suffered from a series of scandals involving sexual abuse, in some cases of minors, by its peacekeepers in Africa. The U.N. is also facing a lawsuit brought by Haiti accusing U.N. blue helmet forces for bringing cholera to the country in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.

The job requires a delicate balancing act. The secretary-general must command respect from countries around the globe, yet not be overtly assertive with the five veto-holding permanent powers of the Security Council. "We want a strong secretary-general, but not an independent one," said a Security Council diplomat.

The final decision lies with the Security Council, but diplomats acknowledged that the momentum created by the new public selection process and will weigh heavily on their decision.

"All of it is valuable evidence as we take the decision," said U.K. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft. "It makes it harder for someone who wasn't strong to be chosen."

Write to Farnaz Fassihi at farnaz.fassihi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 21, 2016 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)