从大胜到出局，只用了两年：英国首相斯塔默，为什么倒下了？

英国首相斯塔默，

UK Prime Minister Starmer,

就在这个星期，

just this week,

正式宣布：

formally announced:

他要辞职了。

he is going to resign.

英国的首相，

Britain's prime minister,

你可以简单理解成，

you can simply think of as

是这个国家，

the country's

管事的，最高领导。

highest leader in charge.

这件事，

This event,

之所以让很多人吃惊，

the reason it surprised so many,

是因为它的反差，

is that the contrast

实在太大了。

is simply too great.

我们先把时间，

Let's first turn the clock

拉回到两年前。

back two years.

那个时候的斯塔默，

The Starmer of that time

可以说是风光无限。

could be called gloriously triumphant.

在二零二四年的大选里，

In the 2024 general election,

他带领自己的政党，

he led his party

赢得了一场，

to win

压倒性的大胜。

an overwhelming victory.

他们在议会里，

In parliament,

一口气拿下了，

they seized in one go

多到惊人的席位。

an astonishing number of seats.

那是几十年来，

It was, in decades,

最漂亮的一场胜利之一。

one of the most beautiful victories.

那时候，

At that time,

几乎所有人都觉得：

almost everyone felt:

这位新首相，

this new prime minister

能干很久很久。

could last a very, very long time.

他自己也说过，

He himself once said

他想在这个位子上，

he wanted, in this post,

一干就是十年。

to serve a full ten years.

可是，

But

谁也没想到，

no one expected

仅仅过了两年，

that after only two years,

一切就，

everything

完全变了样。

would completely change.

那么，

So,

问题到底出在哪？

where did it all go wrong?

最根本的一条，

The most fundamental thing

还是老百姓的钱袋子。

is still ordinary people's wallets.

这两年，

These two years,

英国的物价，

prices in Britain

一直降不下来。

just wouldn't come down.

普通人买东西、

Ordinary people buying things,

交水电费，

paying water and electricity bills,

都觉得越来越吃力。

all found it harder and harder.

日子过得紧巴巴的，

Life was tight and pinched,

大家心里，

and in everyone's hearts,

自然有气。

there was naturally anger.

偏偏在这个时候，

And precisely at this time,

政府这边，

the government, for its part,

又出了一连串的，

produced a string of

丑闻和"打脸"。

scandals and embarrassing reversals.

很多原来说好的政策，

Many policies once promised

后来又改了口。

were later walked back.

老百姓就觉得：

Ordinary people felt:

你说的话，

your word —

到底算不算数？

does it count or not?

这种不满，

This discontent

很快就，

quickly

反映到了选票上。

showed up in the ballots.

在今年的地方选举里，

In this year's local elections,

斯塔默的政党，

Starmer's party

输得一塌糊涂，

lost catastrophically,

丢掉了大量的席位。

shedding a huge number of seats.

这等于是，

This was tantamount to

选民当面给了他，

voters handing him, to his face,

一个大大的"差评"。

a big fat 'fail'.

更要命的是，

Even more deadly,

连他自己人，

even his own people

也开始不挺他了。

began to stop backing him.

从今年春天开始，

Starting this spring,

和他一起工作的官员，

the officials working with him,

就像多米诺骨牌一样，

like dominoes,

一个接一个地辞职。

resigned one after another.

有管医疗的大臣，

There was the minister for health,

也有管国防的大臣。

and the minister for defence.

就在这个月，

Just this month,

因为在军费问题上谈不拢，

because they couldn't agree on military spending,

国防部又一下子，

the defence ministry, all at once,

走了好几个人。

lost several people.

这些辞职，

Each of these resignations,

每一次，

every time,

都是在公开地告诉外界：

was a public declaration to the world:

我们，

we,

对这位首相，

in this prime minister,

没有信心了。

have lost confidence.

而压垮他的最后一根稻草，

And the last straw that broke him

可能是另一个人的崛起。

may be the rise of another man.

这个人，

This man

叫安迪·伯纳姆。

is called Andy Burnham.

他是英国一座大城市的市长，

He is the mayor of a big British city,

人气非常高。

and is hugely popular.

有意思的是，

Interestingly,

在斯塔默最难的时候，

at Starmer's hardest moment,

有人专门，

someone deliberately

给伯纳姆腾出了一个，

cleared, for Burnham,

议会的位子。

a seat in parliament.

这个星期，

This week,

伯纳姆顺利赢得了选举，

Burnham smoothly won the election,

重新回到了议会。

returning to parliament.

这一步，

This move

被很多人看作是，

is seen by many as

他要去争首相之位的，

a key step in his bid

关键一步。

for the prime minister's chair.

前有民意的压力，

Public pressure ahead,

后有强敌的追赶，

a strong rival giving chase behind,

斯塔默，

Starmer

终于撑不下去了。

finally could hold on no longer.

于是，

And so,

他宣布辞职，

he announced his resignation,

并且，

and,

为选出下一任领导，

to choose the next leader,

定下了时间表。

set out a timetable.

说到这里，

Speaking of this,

我想和你多聊一句。

I want to say one more thing to you.

两年前的大胜，

The great win two years ago,

和今天的离场，

and today's exit,

是同一个人。

belong to the same man.

这中间，

In between,

最大的变化，

the biggest change

其实不是他，

was not, in fact, him,

而是人心。

but the people's hearts.

权力这个东西，

Power, this thing,

来的时候轰轰烈烈，

arrives with great fanfare,

走的时候，

and when it leaves,

也可能毫不留情。

it can be utterly merciless.

最后，

Finally,

我想留给你两个问题。

I want to leave you two questions.

第一，

First,

你觉得，

do you think

一个领导真正的本事，

a leader's true skill

是赢得选举的那一刻，

is the moment of winning the election,

还是，

or

在最难的日子里，

is it whether, in the hardest days,

还能不能，

he can still

让大家继续相信他？

keep people believing in him?

第二，

Second,

当一个人，

when a person

发现自己已经，

realizes that he has already

失去了大家的信任，

lost everyone's trust,

体面地离开，

to leave with dignity —

算不算，

does that count as

也是一种勇气？

a kind of courage too?

这两个问题，

These two questions

没有标准答案。

have no standard answer.

但是值得我们，

But they're worth our

慢慢去想。

thinking about slowly.