The chair of the London Assembly, Andrew Boff, resigned(辞职；退出) this week from the Conservative party after 53 years of membership. He quit after being blocked from entering the race to be Tory candidate for London mayor because he supports the European convention on human rights (ECHR)(《欧洲人权公约》), putting him at odds with(与……不一致；与……相冲突) Kemi Badenoch’s hardline position.
伦敦议会主席安德鲁·博夫本周宣布退出保守党，结束了他53年的党员生涯。他之所以退党，是因为他支持《欧洲人权公约》（ECHR），与凯米·巴德诺赫的强硬立场相左，因而被禁止参加保守党伦敦市长候选人的角逐。
Messages of support for one of the capital’s longest-serving Conservative politicians quickly poured in(大量涌入) from fellow Tories. Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s Downing Street chief of staff, has backed Boff, warning Badenoch that others would follow him over the ECHR edict(法令；命令). But the rest sent messages privately, not daring to reveal themselves under a leadership that doesn’t tolerate dissent(容忍异见). In an interview last year, Badenoch decreed(下令；颁布) that rebels “should not and cannot stand as a Conservative candidate” if they do not agree with leaving the ECHR. She also bars anyone supporting net zero(净零排放).
支持这位首都任职时间最长的保守党政治家之一的信息迅速从保守党同僚中涌来。特雷莎·梅的唐宁街幕僚长加文·巴威尔公开支持博夫，并警告巴德诺赫，在《欧洲人权公约》禁令问题上，还会有其他人追随博夫。但其余人只是私下发送信息，不敢在这位不容异见的领导人手下公开表态。去年接受采访时，巴德诺赫曾下令：不支持退出《欧洲人权公约》的“反叛者不应也不能作为保守党候选人参选”。她还禁止任何支持净零排放的人参选。
When Boff applied, for the seventh time, to be considered as Conservative candidate for London mayor, he didn’t really expect to be selected – but nor did he expect to be summoned to be told he was barred from entering the race.(博夫第七次申请成为保守党伦敦市长候选人时，他其实并不指望能获得提名——但他也没料到会被叫去谈话，被告知禁止参选。) In a statement he pointed to the fact that(指出……这一事实) Winston Churchill helped found the ECHR after the second world war, arguing “it was never a leftwing project” but a “safeguard against arbitrary(专断的；任意的) government”. What’s more, he points out to me, the “convention doesn’t even mention asylum seekers(寻求庇护者)”, Badenoch’s main justification for leaving the treaty.
博夫第七次申请成为保守党伦敦市长候选人时，他其实并不指望能获得提名——但他也没料到会被叫去谈话，被告知禁止参选。在一份声明中，他指出温斯顿·丘吉尔在二战后帮助创建了《欧洲人权公约》，并主张“这从来不是左翼的事业”，而是“防止政府专断的保障”。此外，他还向我指出，“公约甚至根本没提到寻求庇护者”，而这正是巴德诺赫退出该条约的主要理由。