Forces against Clark in UN vote

Helen Clark is trailing the top contenders in a vote to decide the next United Nations boss – a shock result that some are reading as a deliberate attempt to nobble her prospects.

Clark has emerged in the ‘‘middle of the pack’’ of 12 contenders for UN Secretary General after a straw poll of the UN Security Council members.

The secret ballot on Friday morning (NZ time) was a bid to whittle down the candidates, as SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon prepares to step down at the end of 2016 after two five-year terms. The two leading contenders are former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Gueterres and former Slovenian president Danilo Turk.

There are already claims being made about the ‘‘old boys network’’ holding sway after a clear mood among the wider United Nations for a woman Secretary General.

Clark is still in the the running after coming in between fourth and sixth, but an Eastern European woman candidate Irina Bokova is ahead of her.

Clark has campaigned strongly but in a surprise move received more votes discouraging her candidacy than expected, which some say was a clear attempt to nobble her.

But it seems her greatest obstacle may be overcoming a mood for an Eastern European candidate.

The 193-member UN General Assembly has this year sought to lift a veil of secrecy that has surrounded the election of the UN chief for the past 70 years by requiring public nominations and holding campaign-style town hall events with each candidate.

However it is the 15-member Security Council which will choose a candidate to recommend to the General Assembly for election later this year. The council will continue to hold closed-door informal secret ballots until they reach consensus.

On Friday, council members were given a ballot for each candidate with the options of encourage, discourage and no opinion. The nominating states will be told of the results for their candidate, but overall results will not be made public.