“If you vote Reform in three weeks’ time,” said the Labour activist(活动人士；积极分子), “Keir Starmer will still be prime minister.” It was a threat(威胁；恐吓). Eileen, a Reform UK voter, from Winstanley in the constituency of Makerfield, was laying out(阐述；列出) her problems with the current Labour prime minister. The only way of removing him, said the Labour activist, was to vote for Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate who intends to win the seat on June 18th and replace Sir Keir as prime minister soon after.
“如果你三周后投票给改革党，”工党活动人士说，“基尔·斯塔默仍将是首相。”这是一种威胁。来自梅克菲尔德选区温斯坦利的艾琳是一名改革党选民，她正在阐述她对现任工党首相的不满。工党活动人士说，唯一能赶走他的办法就是投票给工党候选人安迪·伯纳姆，他打算在6月18日赢得这个席位，并很快取代基尔爵士成为首相。
“I don’t believe you(我不信你的话),” replied Eileen.
“我不信你，”艾琳回答。
Why would she? It is absurd. A Labour activist begging a Reform voter to back Labour to give Sir Keir the boot(炒掉基尔爵士；解雇他)? Pull the other one(胡说；骗谁呢). Yet the by-election in Makerfield, a collection of towns and suburbs in a former mining area just outside Wigan, is riddled with such oddities(怪事；奇特之处) and contradictions(矛盾；对立). The battle for Makerfield has already had commentators reaching for “The Road to Wigan Pier(①背景：《通往维根码头之路》是乔治·奥威...)”, George Orwell’s journey into working-class life in the area in the 1930s. In fact, “1984” is a better guide to the current situation, where paradox and doublethink are the order of the day and Labour offers a very strange pitch: Hate Labour? Vote Labour!
她为什么要相信？这很荒谬。一个工党活动人士恳求改革党选民支持工党，只是为了炒掉基尔爵士？骗谁呢。然而，梅克菲尔德——一个由维冈郊外前矿区小镇和郊区组成的选区——的补选充满了这种怪事和矛盾。梅克菲尔德的争夺战已经让评论员们想起《通往维根码头之路》，乔治·奥威尔在1930年代对该地区工人阶级生活的考察。事实上，《1984》才是理解当前局势的更好的指南，在这里，悖论和双重思想是常态，工党给出了一个非常奇怪的口号：恨工党？投工党！
He’s a good northern lad/His eyes are big and sad
他是个好北方青年/他的眼睛又大又悲伤