美国国家公共电台 NPR--These lawmakers are gunning for Boris Johnson's Prime Minister role

These lawmakers are gunning for Boris Johnson's Prime Minister role

Transcript¹

Nine British lawmakers are lining² up to replace Boris Johnson, just days after his resignation as the leader of Britain's Conservative party.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The race is on for 10 Downing Street. It's only been four days since Boris Johnson announced his intention to resign as Britain's prime minister, and already 11 lawmakers from Johnson's Conservative Party are lining up to replace him. For more, we've got NPR's Frank Langfitt with us. Good morning, Frank.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE³: Hey. Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: Who are the folks to watch in this race?

LANGFITT: Yeah, it's a really interesting group. Rishi Sunak - he's a former chancellor⁴ of the Exchequer⁵. That's essentially⁶ U.K. Treasury⁷ secretary. He - very interesting. He resigned last week from the job, which is one of the things that triggered Johnson having to leave the prime ministership.

MARTIN: Right.

LANGFITT: And Sunak had a very successful program paying furloughed workers during - most of their salaries during the pandemic. So he has that, you know, to tout⁸. Penny Mordaunt - she's a trade minister. Another former chancellor named Sajid Javid. The foreign secretary, Liz Truss. And Nadhim Zahawi, who led the COVID vaccine⁹ program, which was also very successful.

MARTIN: So explain the challenges that this new PM is going to inherit because there are a lot of them.

LANGFITT: There are. I mean, the first thing, I think, is for them to probably try to distance themselves from Johnson. I mean, integrity and telling the truth certainly is going to be an issue given his downfall and why he lost his job. But like the U.S., it's the economy. You know, right now we have record inflation here - over 9%. The U.K. has the slowest growth of the G7. Those are the seven largest economies that are democracies. Several candidates, a number of them, are talking about slashing¹⁰ corporate¹¹ taxes to stimulate¹² growth and investment. But the Opposition¹³ Labour leader, you know, Keir Starmer, he calls this an arms race of fantasy economics.

MARTIN: So, I mean, whatever his failings, though, Boris Johnson was a politician, right? He knew how to deliver votes. He knew how to win.

LANGFITT: Yeah.

MARTIN: Is there anyone in this crowd who could have his electoral touch?

LANGFITT: No.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

LANGFITT: And I think that's the big problem. Whoever wins is going to inherit all these problems we just talked about. And right now the Tories are trailing Labour by seven points in the polls. I was on a bike ride with my neighbor yesterday along the Thames, and he's a Tory voter. And he - we were talking about the candidates. He didn't really know that much about them. And he said nobody - you know, like him or not, nobody's going to be able to match Johnson in terms of his star power and his ability to sort of draw in other voters. This has got to be a really big concern for the party because even when you get a new prime minister - they get a new prime minister, they still face the prospect¹⁴ that they could lose in 2024, when the next election might be.

MARTIN: So, I mean, we've got to note, all the previous prime ministers of the U.K. have been white. Many of those running to replace Boris Johnson are people of color. I mean, is that playing into the campaigns at all?

LANGFITT: So it's really interesting. It almost had to be pointed¹⁵ out to me that six out of 11 are of color. Most are minority - most of the minority candidates are South Asian heritage. This is almost not mentioned at all in the mainstream¹⁶ press. Obviously, racism¹⁷ remains¹⁸ a problem in the United Kingdom. There's a long history in the British - you know, of the British Empire. But all of these are very conservative. They're classic free marketeers, so they very much fit the Tory brand. And some of the top candidates are sort of posh business finance types. So, really, I think people are focusing more on their policies and how they fit into the Tory Party, which they seem to fit in very well.

MARTIN: NPR's Frank Langfitt reporting from London. Thanks, Frank.

LANGFITT: Good to talk, Rachel.

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 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 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。

8 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

11 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

12 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

13 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。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

17 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。