What happens to a political leader who is too sure of themself? Sometimes, huge confidence is a very useful, self-fulfilling(自我实现的) quality: persuading party colleagues, activists, donors and voters that more can be achieved than is usually thought possible. Such utter conviction(坚定信念) can keep everyone believing while the actual practicalities of a political project are worked out.
一个过于自信的政治领袖会落得什么下场？有时候，巨大的自信是一种非常有用、能自我实现的品质：它能让党内同僚、活动人士、捐款人和选民相信，可以取得比通常认为的更大的成就。这种绝对的信念能让所有人保持信心，同时政治计划的实际可行性也在逐步厘清。
Yet when an air of absolute certainty turns out to be overconfidence, the bubble bursts(泡沫破灭). The politician may be revealed as disastrously complacent(自满的) and lacking in judgment, having delusions of grandeur(夸大妄想、自命不凡), or being fundamentally in denial(自欺欺人、拒不承认). Especially in our era of online mockery and instinctive contempt for politicians, an overconfident leader can end up as a laughing stock(笑柄).
然而，当那种绝对的笃定被证明不过是过度自信时，泡沫就会破灭。这位政客可能被揭露出灾难性的自满、缺乏判断力、怀有夸大妄想，或者根本就是在自欺欺人。尤其是在这个网上嘲讽盛行、人们对政客本能地嗤之以鼻的时代，一个过度自信的领导人最终可能沦为笑柄。
This week is the second anniversary of the start of Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative leadership. So far, self-assuredness(自信) has been her tenure(任期)’s central feature, the one aspect that many voters and journalists have noticed. “There’s a new captain, there’s a new coach, there’s a new owner … which is all me,” she told GB News last month, after a party conference where activists chanted “Kemi” and her assertive(强势的、自信的) persona pervade(弥漫、充斥)d everything, as if the party had found another Margaret Thatcher(英国首位女首相、保守党标志人物).
本周是凯米·巴德诺赫出任保守党党魁两周年。迄今为止，自信一直是她任内的核心特征，也是许多选民和记者都注意到的一点。上个月，在一次党员大会上活动人士高呼“凯米”、她强势的个人形象无处不在——仿佛保守党又找到了一个玛格丽特·撒切尔——之后，她对GB新闻台说：“有了新船长，有了新教练，有了新老板……全都是我。”