The former Portuguese Prime Minister was the clear winner in the informal vote, which was colour coded for the first time, to mark out the ballots of the permanent five members from the ten elected ones.
Lorna Shaddick reports from UN headquarters in New York.
IN: UPSOT Churkin: Ladies and gentlemen...
OUT: SOC
DUR: 2.28
POT: 2.14, 2.17
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Script:
UPSOT: Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the UN
Ladies and gentlemen, you are witnessing I think a historic scene. I don't know if it has ever been done this way in the history of the United Nations before…
It was the rarest of sights… a United UN security council. After the sixth ballot to determine who'd be the next UN leader, all 15 Ambassadors emerged from the Council chamber, and this month's President, Russia's Vitaly Churkin, announced their choice:
SOT: Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the UN
After our 6th straw poll, we have a clear favourite and his name is Antonio Guterres (hum of reaction)
The 66 year old former Portuguese Prime Minister, who headed up the UN refugee agency for a decade, won 13 approval votes, 2 abstentions and - crucially - no votes against him .
It means that the eventual winner isn't from Eastern Europe, despite the informal rotation system dictating that it was that region's turn.
Jonathan Cristol from the World Policy Institute says although it's surprising that a Western European prevailed, Russia in particular is likely to have had its own reasons for supporting Mr. Guterres:
SOT: Jonathan Cristol, Fellow, World Policy Institute
They have a weaker roster of E European candidates and Guterres in some ways is a weak western European candidate. So they can go for a Western European that is probably the best they'll get for their own interests, while also undermining the traditional rotation.
Ban Ki Moon had also expressed the hope that his successor would be a woman - but ultimately, none of the female candidates was able to tick all the boxes. Jonathan Cristol says one of them, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, was perhaps too strong a candidate for some tastes:
SOT: Jonathan Cristol, Fellow, World Policy Institute
If you look at Guterres, he's kind of had the UN Syria portfolio and Ukraine portfolio. How effective was he in curtailing Russia's position and Russian actions in those territories? Not at all effective. And I think Helen Clark is someone who probably would have been much tougher.
Nonetheless, Mr. Guterres is far from a technocrat - as a former Prime Minister, he has executive leadership experience, and his role heading up the UN Refugee Agency gives him expertise in managing one of the toughest problems facing the world body at the moment.
Ms. Clark congratulated him on his win, recalling that they had worked together when both were Prime Ministers, before taking top UN roles.
The Council's holding a formal vote on Thursday, and his name will then be passed to the General Assembly for approval. He'll take over from Ban Ki Moon on the 1st January 2017. And Syria, Ukraine, North Korea, the Middle East and a host of other international problems will then become, ultimately, his to try and solve. Lorna Shaddick, New York.