In Britain, you can pay £500 ($670) to stand next to the prime minister on live TV. A humbling(令人谦卑的) election-night tradition sees politicians line up on stage with fellow candidates as the votes in their constituency are read out. Plenty of publicity-seekers(爱出风头的人) think the election deposit(选举押金) is a fair price to pay for a moment in the spotlight. In 2024 Sir Keir Starmer—for now still the prime minister—gave his acceptance speech flanked by(两侧有……) a man dressed as Elmo(《芝麻街》中的红色毛绒角色), a furry red children’s-TV character.
在英国，你可以花500英镑（约670美元）在电视直播中站在首相旁边。一个令人谦卑的选举之夜传统是，政客们与同选区的候选人一起在台上站成一排，等待他们选区的选票被宣读。许多爱出风头的人认为，为了在聚光灯下待一会儿，缴纳选举押金是公平的价格。2024年，基尔·斯塔默爵士（目前仍是首相）发表胜选演讲时，身边站着一个穿着埃尔莫（一个毛茸茸的红色儿童电视角色）服装的人。
Later this year Nigel Farage, the leader of the populist-right Reform UK party, will be treated to a particularly surreal(超现实的，离奇的) election-night spectacle. No candidates for the major parties will stand against him in the by-election he triggered with great fanfare(大张旗鼓地) on July 7th, by resigning as MP for Clacton in a televised address (he hopes to be re-elected). Instead, the man who aspires(渴望，有志于) to become prime minister at the next general election will be surrounded by satirists and loonies(疯子，怪人). Count Binface(宾脸伯爵——英国政治讽刺角色), whose real name is Jonathan Harvey, has already emerged as a leading challenger.
今年晚些时候，右翼民粹政党英国改革党的领袖奈杰尔·法拉奇将迎来一场格外超现实的选举之夜奇观。在7月7日，他以电视讲话的方式辞去克拉克顿选区议员职务（他希望重新当选），大张旗鼓地触发了补选，但主要政党均无候选人与之竞争。相反，这位志在下届大选中成为首相的人，将被讽刺作家和怪人们包围。本名乔纳森·哈维的“宾脸伯爵”已成为主要挑战者。
The farce(闹剧，胡闹) is befitting of the by-election. Mr Farage called it to set the cat among the pigeons(引起骚乱，捅马蜂窝) while he faces scrutiny(仔细审查，监督) of his finances, including an investigation by Parliament’s standards commissioner. The body is reviewing a £5m gift made to him by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Mr Farage told viewers the by-election would be the “people versus the establishment”. In reality, it is a squalid(卑劣的，肮脏的) attempt to have the residents of Reform’s safest constituency clear him of wrongdoing. Now it looks as though the joke might be on the rabble-rousing populist(煽动民粹者).
这场闹剧正适合这场补选。法拉奇发起补选是为了在自身面临财务审查时引起骚乱，审查包括议会标准专员的调查。该机构正在审查加密货币亿万富翁克里斯托弗·哈伯恩给他的一笔500万英镑的赠款。法拉奇对观众表示，补选将是“人民对阵体制”。实际上，这是一个卑劣的企图，想让改革党最安全选区的居民为他洗脱不当行为。现在看来，玩笑可能开到了这位煽动民粹主义者自己头上。
