UNITED NATIONS, August 11. /TASS/. The United Kingdom hopes that a woman will be elected the next UN Secretary-General, Britain’s UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft has told TASS.

The British diplomat noted that the professional qualities of a candidate will be of vital importance. "We also believe that with all qualifications being equal that it is high time for woman to lead the UN," he said.

The ambassador reminded that on April 25, 2015, his first day in the UN, he launched a British initiative to improve the process of selecting and appointing the next Secretary-General. "We want to see more transparency, more structure and more inclusion in the process," he said.

"We want to see a clear deadline for applications and a clear criteria for the job. We also want to give all members of the UN, and non-governmental organizations, a chance to scrutinise candidates in a UNSC meeting. Through these steps, we can help secure the best candidate for one of the most important jobs in the world," Rycroft said.

The term of incumbent UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expires on December 31, 2016.

Russia called for preserving the current order of electing the UN chief during a meeting behind the closed doors at the UN Security Council in late July. Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told TASS at the moment there is a "layer of proposals" that only complicate the process.