吉尔·劳莱斯，伦敦——英国反对党保守党领导人周三表示，保守党正走在重返执政之路，并拒绝了与右翼竞争对手“改革英国党”结盟的想法。
JILL LAWLESS LONDON — The leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party said Wednesday that the Tories are on the path back to power, rejecting the idea of an alliance with rival right-of-center party Reform UK .
在保守党遭遇史上最惨败两年后，党魁凯米·巴登诺奇表示，她已经结束了党内派系斗争、丑闻和分裂，这些曾威胁要将该党撕裂。
Two years after the Conservatives’ worst-ever election defeat , leader Kemi Badenoch said that she had put an end to the infighting, scandals and splits that threatened to tear the party apart.
“现在的这个党，是一个没有戏剧性冲突的党，”巴登诺奇在保守党年度会议上对与会代表说道。“我们是一个务实、不矫情的党。”民意调查显示，保守党在支持率上持续落后于中左翼执政党工党和“改革英国党”。但在英格兰中部城市伯明翰，保守党代表们表达了对该党正在复苏的乐观态度——这与去年那场气氛低沉的会议形成鲜明对比，当时一些人甚至质疑该党能否生存下去。
“This party is now the no-drama party,” Badenoch told delegates at the Conservatives’ annual conference. “We are the no-nonsense party.”Opinion polls consistently put the Conservatives behind both the center-left governing Labour Party and Reform UK. But Conservative delegates in the central England city of Birmingham expressed optimism that the party is on the rebound — a contrast to last year’s downbeat gathering, when some questioned whether it could even survive.
2024年的英国大选将保守党赶下执政地位，使其在拥有650个席位的下议院中仅保留121个席位。多名现任及前任议员已转投反移民的“改革英国党”，该党在地方选举中击败了保守党，并正努力成为右翼最受欢迎的政党。
Britain’s 2024 election ousted the Conservative Party from power and reduced it to 121 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. Several former and serving lawmakers have defected to anti-immigration Reform UK, which has trounced the Conservatives in local elections and is aiming to become the most popular party of the right.
巴登诺奇是首位领导英国主要政党的黑人女性，她拒绝了与“改革英国党”达成选举协议的呼吁，并谴责了该党部分成员基于种族的民族主义言论。曾担任保守党政府部长、后转投“改革英国党”的苏埃拉·布拉弗曼曾声称，只有白人才可以被称为“英格兰人”。
Badenoch, the first Black woman to lead a major U.K. political party, rejected calls for an electoral pact with Reform UK and denounced the race-based nationalism of some of its members. Suella Braverman, a former Conservative government minister who defected to Reform, has suggested that only white people can be English.
巴登诺奇表示，她不想生活在一个由那些“争论我的混血孩子是否算英格兰人”的人所统治的国家。“我们不能让这些人把我们带向倒退。那并不是我们所处的国家，”她说。
Badenoch said that she didn’t want to live in a country run by people who “debate whether my mixed-race children are English.”“We must not let these people take us backwards. That is not the country we are,” she said.
“对于那些喊着‘团结右翼’的人来说——我们绝不会与他们团结，”她说道，并获得了党内成员起立鼓掌。
“For people who say ‘Unite the right’ – we are not uniting with that,” she said, getting a standing ovation from the audience of party members.
去年，巴德诺赫和时任首相基尔·斯塔默都遭到了各自党内人士的不满。由于一系列失误、判断失当以及政策急转弯导致选民支持流失，斯塔默于7月被其所在的工党罢免。
Last year, both Badenoch and then Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced discontent from their own parties. Starmer was ousted by his own Labour Party in July after a series of missteps, lapses of judgment and policy U-turns frittered away voters’ support.
与此同时，由奈杰尔·法拉奇领导的英国改革党正因其财务状况而面临议会和警方的调查。
Meanwhile, Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is facing parliamentary and police investigations over its finances.
保守党竞争对手所遭遇的困境，使得巴德诺赫的职位更加稳固，尽管几乎没有证据表明选民正在回归保守党。
The troubles faced by the Conservative Party’s rivals have helped make Badenoch more secure in her position, despite little evidence voters are returning to the Tories.
在她的演讲中，巴德诺赫基本避开了性别认同等曾让她津津乐道的争议性“文化战争”议题，而是聚焦于经济保守主义的核心主张。
In her speech, Badenoch largely steered clear of divisive “culture wars” issues such as gender identity that she has sometimes reveled in, and focused on a core message of economic conservatism.
她表示，保守党政府将大幅削减福利支出、放松监管并减税，并承诺将缴纳遗产税的人数显著减少。她称接替斯塔默成为工党领袖的安迪·伯纳姆首相是一位想要“将时钟拨回到20世纪70年代”的社会主义者。不过，该党并非所有声明都获得了良好反响。对于一项旨在构建反无人机和反导弹防御系统的承诺，外界持怀疑态度。该党最初称这项耗资100亿英镑（132亿美元）的“不列颠盾牌”计划将与以色列的“铁穹”系统类似，但随后承认其覆盖范围将有限得多。
She said that a Conservative government would slash welfare spending, loosen regulation and cut taxes, promising a sharp reduction in the number of people paying inheritance tax. She called Prime Minister Andy Burnham , who succeeded Starmer as Labour leader, a socialist who wants to “turn the clock back to the 1970s.”Not all the party’s announcements landed well. There has been skepticism over a pledge to build an air-defense system against drone and missile attacks. The party said that the 10 billion pound ($13.2 billion) “Britannia Shield” would be similar to Israel’s Iron Dome, before acknowledging that its scope would be considerably more limited.
不过，在充满乐观情绪的演讲中，巴德诺赫将保守党比作玛莎百货（Marks & Spencer）——这家历史悠久的零售商，其服装曾长期被认为过时乏味。但她表示，如今玛莎百货“重新流行起来——外观出众，价格实惠”。她说：“就像玛莎百货一样，我们必须从错误中吸取教训，重新赢得信任，让人们再次对我们的政党感到自豪。”
But in an optimistic address, Badenoch likened the Conservatives to Marks & Spencer, a venerable retailer whose clothes were long considered dowdy and dull. Now, she said, it’s “back in fashion — great looks at affordable prices.”“Just like M&S, we must learn from our mistakes, win back trust and make people feel good about our party again,” she said.