<Tr> <Td> Secretary General before election <P> Ban Ki - Moon </P> </Td> <Td> Elected Secretary General <P> António Guterres </P> </Td> </Tr> <P> Ban Ki - Moon </P> <P> A United Nations Secretary - General selection was held in October 2016 to choose the ninth Secretary - General of the United Nations to succeed Ban Ki - moon from 1 January 2017 . Six straw polls were held in the Security Council from 21 July 2016 to 5 October 2016 . António Guterres of Portugal led the polling in every round, finishing the last round with 13' encourage' votes, 0' discourage' votes, and 2 abstentions . On 6 October 2016, the Security Council unanimously recommended Guterres to the General Assembly, which formally selected him by acclamation on 13 October 2016 . </P> <P> The 2016 selection was much more open than previous selections, with public nominations being sought and candidates participating in televised debates . Women and Eastern Europeans were favoured, as no woman had ever served as Secretary - General, and the Eastern European Group was the only one of the UN Regional Groups never to have held the office . However, the two campaigns offset each other, and the selection was won by the only candidate who was neither female nor from Eastern Europe . </P>

Who has been elected as the new secretary general of united nations