Keir Starmer exits(退出，离开) the British political stage as he entered it: doing the exact opposite of(与……截然相反) the thing he said he was going to do. It’s only 10 weeks since he pledged(承诺，保证) to remain as MP for Holborn and St Pancras until the next election, despite stepping down as prime minister. That’s plainly the decent course of action: a dedicated Labour man wouldn’t want to force a byelection(补选). Even if it’s a slam dunk(稳操胜券的事) for the party, it inevitably draws focus and resources from more important matters. Someone who takes the business of representing constituents(选民，选区居民) even a 10th as seriously as all MPs say they do would feel that the honour of those votes should be repaid.
基尔·斯塔默退出英国政治舞台的方式，与他当初登场时如出一辙：做的恰恰是他曾说过要做的事的反面。距离他承诺在下次大选前继续担任霍尔本和圣潘克拉斯选区议员，仅仅过去了10周——尽管他已辞去首相职务。这显然是体面的做法：一位忠诚的工党人士不会想引发补选。即使补选对工党来说稳操胜券，也难免会分散对更重要事务的关注和资源。一个把代表选民这件事的认真程度，哪怕只做到所有议员自称的十分之一的人，都会觉得那些选票所赋予的荣誉应当得到回报。
It’s a pretty boring life for an ex-PM turned backbencher(后座议员). You have to keep your counsel(保持沉默，不透露想法) as a large amount of blame is tacitly(默然地，心照不宣地) shovelled(大量倾倒，猛抛) your way, while keeping your opinions to yourself. But that second requirement was the one thing Starmer was really good at. Once it transpired(（事情）显露，为人所知) that the opinions he said out loud were open to endless revision and denial, I was never able to figure out(弄清楚，理解) what the real ones were.
对于一位从首相转为后座议员的政客来说，生活相当无聊。当大量指责默默向你抛来时，你得保持沉默，同时把自己的观点藏在心里。但第二条要求恰恰是斯塔默真正擅长的。一旦发现他公开说出的观点可以被无休止地修改和否认，我就再也无法弄清他真正的观点是什么了。
The Tories are crying U-turn at this resignation, and technically it is – but the category needs more subdivisions(细分，分支) to properly describe all the different ways Starmer found to break a pledge(违背承诺). There were the grand(宏大的，堂皇的) statements with which he came armed when he was initially seeking the Labour leadership: economic justice, social justice, climate justice, migrants’ rights, putting human rights at the heart of foreign policy. It would be tedious and a little depressing to track the moment at which each aim was jettisoned(抛弃，丢弃). Suffice it to say(只需说……就够了), these did not describe the politician he was. In fact, to be a Starmerite Version 2020 – Corbyn in a tie(打着领带的科尔宾（指表面温和的极左）), basically – was enough to get you kicked out of the Labour party by 2024, and to vote in favour of policies he had once championed(倡导，支持) (ending the two-child benefit limit, for instance) was enough to have the whip suspended(被暂停党鞭职务). “U-turn” doesn’t really cover a deception so kaleidoscopic(千变万化的，万花筒般的).
保守党人对这次辞职高喊“出尔反尔”，从技术上讲确实如此——但这个类别需要更多细分，才能恰当地描述斯塔默违背承诺的各种方式。他最初竞选工党领袖时，带着宏大的宣言而来：经济正义、社会正义、气候正义、移民权利、将人权置于外交政策的核心。要追踪每一个目标被抛弃的时刻，既乏味又令人沮丧。总而言之，这些并不符合他后来作为政治家的形象。事实上，做一个2020年版的斯塔默主义者——基本上就是打着领带的科尔宾——到2024年就足以让你被开除出工党；而投票支持他曾倡导的政策（例如取消二胎福利上限），就足以让你被暂停党鞭。“出尔反尔”实在不足以涵盖如此千变万化的欺骗。