The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, will march on to the conference stage in Birmingham feeling buoyed(受到鼓舞的). “Kemi’s soaring,” coos(柔声说、谄媚地说) the Sun, and that sums up the prevailing wisdom(主流看法). More than four in 10 Britons think she is doing well as Tory leader, compared with a third who think otherwise. As Nigel Farage’s stock has plummeted(暴跌) thanks to scandals over a £5m personal gift and donations from crypto billionaires, the polling suggests that the Conservatives could regain the mantle of(重新夺回……的衣钵) Britain’s main rightwing force.
保守党领袖凯米·巴德诺赫将意气风发地走上伯明翰的会议讲台。《太阳报》谄媚地写道：“凯米正在腾飞”，这概括了当下的主流看法。超过四成英国人认为她作为保守党领袖表现不错，而三分之一的人持相反意见。由于奈杰尔·法拉奇因500万英镑个人礼物和加密货币亿万富翁捐款的丑闻而声望暴跌，民调显示保守党可能重新夺回英国主要右翼力量的衣钵。
Yet Badenoch has been the beneficiary(受益者) of circumstance. Her tenure(任期) as opposition leader has been defined by Keir Starmer’s project imploding(崩塌、内爆) almost as soon as it gained power. When Reform UK enjoyed its seismic polling lead, the Tory plight was double-edged: they were starved of attention, but that inevitably resulted in a lack of scrutiny, too.(当英国改革党在民调中取得地震式领先时，保守党的处境是一把双刃剑：他们得不到关注，但这也不可避免地导致他们缺乏审视。) It has been easy for Badenoch to appear formidable(强大的、令人敬畏的) while her opponents have disintegrated.
然而，巴德诺赫不过是时势的受益者。她作为反对党领袖的任期，始终被基尔·斯塔默的执政计划几乎一上台就崩塌所定义。当英国改革党在民调中取得地震式领先时，保守党的处境是一把双刃剑：他们得不到关注，但这也不可避免地导致他们缺乏审视。当对手分崩离析时，巴德诺赫很容易显得强大。
With the Conservatives now back in the race, the spotlight falls on(聚光灯落在……身上) Badenoch. Let us consider the absurdity(荒谬) of her proposed air defence system. Our would-be(准、想要成为的) prime minister denied comparing it to Israel’s Iron Dome(以色列“铁穹”防空系统), despite the term appearing in both a press release and a newspaper article under her own name. This amateurishness(业余水平) is one thing, but even on its own terms(就其本身而言), her proposal is a mess. It will “protect the whole United Kingdom, our sovereign territories and British bases overseas”, she claims, which would be impossible for the £10bn over 10 years she is proposing to spend on it.(她声称该系统将“保护整个联合王国、我们的主权领土和英国海外基地”，而她提议十年内为此花费的100亿英镑根本不可能做到。) The former British general Richard Barrons suggests such a system would cost more than £100bn.
随着保守党重新加入竞争，聚光灯落在了巴德诺赫身上。让我们看看她提出的防空系统有多荒谬。这位准首相否认将其与以色列的“铁穹”相提并论，尽管这个词出现在以她名义发布的新闻稿和报纸文章中。这种业余水平是一回事，但即便就其本身而言，她的提议也是一团糟。她声称该系统将“保护整个联合王国、我们的主权领土和英国海外基地”，而她提议十年内为此花费的100亿英镑根本不可能做到。英国前将军理查德·巴伦斯指出，这样的系统耗资将超过1000亿英镑。