Nigel Farage can be confident of victory against a man posing as(伪装成) an ennobled(被授予爵位的) space traveller with a dustbin on his head. At least, in Clacton he can.
奈杰尔·法拉奇可以自信地战胜一个头戴垃圾桶、扮作受封贵族太空旅行者的人。至少，在克拉克顿他可以。
The refusal of major parties to contest this week’s byelection(补选) sets the bar low(降低标准). But even if the competition were more serious than Count Binface, the Reform UK leader would be the favourite to win on his chosen turf(地盘，势力范围). He picked the constituency as his safest shot(最稳妥的机会) for a parliamentary seat in the 2024 general election for a reason. Now he is betting that the stench(恶臭) of scandal around his personal and party finances, pungent(刺鼻的，辛辣的) in Westminster, won’t sicken(使厌恶，使恶心) his fans on the Essex coast.
主要政党拒绝参加本周的补选，这降低了门槛。但即使竞争对手比 Count Binface 更强大，改革英国党领袖仍是他选定地盘上的获胜热门。他在2024年大选中选择该选区作为最稳妥的议会席位机会，是有原因的。如今他赌的是，围绕他个人和政党财务的丑闻恶臭——在威斯敏斯特刺鼻——不会让埃塞克斯海岸的粉丝们感到恶心。
He’s probably right, which is why Labour and the Conservatives sensibly denied him the spectacle(场面，奇观) he craved – a “people versus the establishment(人民对抗建制派)” prize fight. The plan was to put the question of his failure to declare a £5m donation to the electoral court of Clacton. It would be settled not by adjudication(裁决，判定) of the parliamentary standards authority but with a knockout blow(决定性打击) from the fist of Furious(愤怒的) Farage.
他可能是对的，这就是为什么工党和保守党明智地拒绝了他渴望的场面——一场“人民对抗建制派”的奖金之战。计划是将他未能申报500万英镑捐款的问题提交给克拉克顿的选举法庭。这将不是通过议会标准机构的裁决来解决，而是由“愤怒的法拉奇”的拳头一击制胜。