美国国家公共电台 NPR--Rishi Sunak leads the race to become the U.K.'s next prime minister

Rishi Sunak leads the race to become the U.K.'s next prime minister

Transcript¹

The former treasury² chief was runner-up to Liz Truss in the contest to replace scandal-plagued Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. Truss quit after a turbulent 45-day term.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For the third time in less than two months, the U.K. is about to get a new prime minister. In a surprise announcement, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pulled himself out of the running. Another Conservative candidate, Penny Mordaunt, also dropped out with just seconds to go before a party deadline.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GRAHAM BRADY: I can confirm that we have received one valid³ nomination⁴.

(SOUNDBITE OF DESK THUMPING⁵, CHEERING)

BRADY: And Rishi Sunak is therefore elected as leader of the Conservative Party.

(SOUNDBITE OF DESK THUMPING, CHEERING)

FADEL: So the former finance minister is now set to become Britain's next premier⁶ and the first nonwhite person to hold the office. For the latest, we turn to NPR's London correspondent Frank Langfitt. Good morning, Frank.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE⁷: Hey. Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So tell us about Rishi Sunak. What does he bring to the job?

LANGFITT: Yeah, I mean, on paper, he certainly would seem the right person for this moment, given the economic problems in this country.

FADEL: Yeah.

LANGFITT: As you were saying, he's former chancellor⁸ of the Exchequer⁹. That's Britain's treasury secretary. He has a long financial background, an MBA from Stanford. Worked at Goldman Sachs. And he actually planned a earlier budget. His plan was a much more fiscally¹⁰ conservative approach, even raising taxes. What happened over the summer is fascinating. The Conservative membership of the Conservative Party, which had the final say over the summer in the last prime minister's race, chose Liz Truss, who had unfunded tax cuts, trickle-down economics. This, of course, as we've talked about, crashed the pound, sent interest rates way up. And so the second time around, it looks like the guy who lost out over the summer, who had the right idea, most likely, is now heading to No. 10 Downing Street.

FADEL: So different approaches to the economy. But like Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak will be the second prime minister in a row that will lead the U.K. with no popular mandate¹¹. The party, not the public, chose him. So what are the challenges he faces?

LANGFITT: Well, I mean, first off, he's got to unite his own party. It's been divided off and on, really, since the Brexit vote of 2016.

FADEL: Right.

LANGFITT: And he has to lay out a strategy against, you know, a very difficult environment. It's interesting. You know, since he lost, we've hardly heard anything from him. We just - we know he's running for this, but we haven't seen him much publicly. It's almost like he was running what we call, of course, in the United States a Rose Garden strategy. And the stakes are very high because, as you're pointing out, he doesn't have a popular mandate. The other parties, particularly the Labour Party, the opposition¹² Labour Party, really, really wants a general election. And they're over 30 points ahead in the poll. So they would wipe out the Conservatives, for instance, if a election were held today. And what Sunak has to do is convince people that he's really stabilized¹³ this country, which has been unusually turbulent, in order to regain¹⁴ also the support of ordinary people.

FADEL: You know, he's also, as we talked about, the first person of color as prime minister when he assumes office, first prime minister of Indian heritage, first Hindu prime minister. Pretty significant moment.

LANGFITT: It is. It's a major milestone¹⁵ in British politics. But what's also so interesting is that this isn't getting a lot of attention in the British press. And there's some reasons for this. One is that people of color have been in key positions for the Conservative Party for a number of years - the last four chancellors¹⁶, including home secretaries, as well. So in some ways, this seems almost more evolutionary¹⁷ than revolutionary.

FADEL: NPR London correspondent Frank Langfitt, thank you so much.

LANGFITT: Good to talk, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。

10 fiscally   

在国库方面，财政上，在国库岁入方面

参考例句：

• Nor will fiscally stretched governments pump more money into the political equivalent of a leper colony. 财政吃紧的政府也不愿将更多的钱投入这个避之唯恐不及的政治瘟疫区。
• We are more fiscally constrained, which forces us to work smarter and more efficiently. 与F-15相比我们资金上的限制更大了，美女类小游戏，这迫使我们更为精心和有效地工作。

11 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

15 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

16 chancellors   

大臣( chancellor的名词复数 )； （某些美国大学的）校长； （德国或奥地利的）总理； （英国大学的）名誉校长

参考例句：

• The opposition leader spoke against the chancellors' proposals and mincemeat of them. 反对派领导人反对大臣们的建议，并将他们驳得体无完肤。
• Chancellors and defence secretaries are supposed to keep such disputes private. 各部大臣和国防大臣本应该私下进行这种争论。

17 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。