No promotion for Helen

Looks like Helen won’t be “ascending” to the UN Secretary-General job. The UN Security Council latest straw poll has South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon with 14 favourable votes and one no opinion. This is the first straw poll which had permament members with veto rights using a differently coloured ballot. None of the Big 5 were oppossed.

So on the 9th he will formally be nominated for the role by the Security Council, and this will then go to the 192 member general assembly for ratification.

Despite being a Cabinet level Minister, Ban is actually a professional diplomat.