美国国家公共电台 NPR Once Seen As Too Left-Wing, Will Jeremy Corbyn Be U.K.'s Next Prime Minister?（在线收听）

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A couple of years ago, analysts thought that Britain's Labour Party had sealed its doom. The party chose as its leader Jeremy Corbyn - a fringe politician considered much too far left to ever become prime minister.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Well, now Corbyn's party has been through an unexpectedly strong election. And suddenly people talk of Corbyn as a future prime minister. Lauren Frayer reports from London.

LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Less than two months ago, Jeremy Corbyn was way behind in the polls when he took the stage at a music festival in Liverpool, his shirt untucked...

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Please welcome Mr. Jeremy Corbyn.

(CHEERING)

FRAYER: ...And delivered an impassioned defense of public funding for the arts.

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JEREMY CORBYN: A government that cares about sports, culture and the arts...

FRAYER: Thousands of youngsters in the audience began to chant...

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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Oh, Jeremy Corbyn...

FRAYER: ...Oh, Jeremy Corbyn, to the tune of the White Stripes song "Seven Nation Army." And since then, those chants have spread...

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Singing) Oh, Jeremy Corbyn.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Chanting) Oh...

FRAYER: ...To soccer game, night clubs, universities - as Corbyn's popularity soared among youth angry about student debt, income inequality and Britain's upcoming exit from the European Union. That upended last month's general election. Prime Minister Theresa May called it early, thinking she'd increase her majority in Parliament. But instead, her missteps and Corbyn's sudden surge left May barely clinging to power.

EMMA REES: From a very, very low starting point, Jeremy Corbyn secured 40 percent of the popular votes, which is the largest swing to the Labour Party since the second world war.

FRAYER: Emma Rees works for Momentum, a group of activists who stuck with Corbyn when many lawmakers from his own Labour Party said he was way too far left. MPs said his plans for tax hikes and more public spending and praise for the likes of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez made him unelectable. On top of that, they criticized his failure to campaign strongly against Brexit. Now that's all changed.

REES: There have been a number of public apologies from members of the parliamentary party who've been very critical of Jeremy in the past. They have had to, you know, now say, you know, I'm sorry. I got it wrong.

FRAYER: Labour now actually sees a path to power led by this 68-year-old in corduroys, known for pottering around his garden, making jam and railing against the Iraq War, nuclear power and austerity.

ERIKA UYTERHOEVEN: He's like the Bernie Sanders of the U.K. but with, like, a very refined accent (laughter).

FRAYER: Erika Uyterhoeven is a Boston native who worked for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and then moved to the U.K. to work for Corbyn.

UYTERHOEVEN: Both in the U.S. and the U.K., you know, young people are seeing, you know, health care get cut. But also, with university fees, people are leaving with, you know, tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Young people see that the cards are stacked against them.

FRAYER: Corbyn is hoping to build more support from both urban, educated young people and the traditional working class. But those two groups don't have much in common when it comes to the biggest issue of all - Brexit - says political scientist Patrick Diamond.

PATRICK DIAMOND: Younger, more pro-European voters who are extremely concerned about the Brexit, as against a group of more working-class voters, who are much more inclined to support leaving the EU. But in government, Jeremy Corbyn would be forced to disappoint one or the other.

FRAYER: The Brexit vote revealed disillusion with the status quo and mainstream politicians. It's put Britain on a path of real uncertainty. As Prime Minister May enters tough talks with Brussels, she could be forced from power at home at any moment.

A new poll has Labour eight points ahead of her Conservatives. Jeremy Corbyn is waiting in the wings to possibly become Britain's most unlikely prime minister. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.