Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - came within a whisker｜又中又英

Britain last week came within a whisker of having its first prime minister of Indian descent. Rishi Sunak, aged 42, was born in Southampton to Indian immigrant parents. He would have made history if he had won last week’s election. Barack Obama made history by being elected as America’s first black president. Sunak came within a whisker but lost to Liz Truss. If you came within a whisker it means you came very close to doing something but did not succeed. The expression can also be used in a different way. If you came within a whisker of drowning it means you almost drowned.

Britain’s political system is different from the US system. An American president can only serve two four-year terms. If a president resigns or dies, the vice president will serve until the next election. Elections in Britain are held every five years to choose a political party to govern. The winning party chooses the prime minister. Britain does not limit how long a prime minister can serve. The prime minister can serve indefinitely as long as his or her party wins the election. Last week’s election was not a general election. It was an internal election by the ruling Conservative Party.

The party’s Members of Parliament (MPs) had forced Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister. Eight of the party’s MPs became candidates to replace Johnson in an election by Conservative Party MPs. The MPs chose Truss and Sunak as the finalists. The next stage was for the party’s 170,000 members who had paid membership fees to choose between Truss and Sunak. Truss has hinted a general election is not on the cards at least until 2024. To be not on the cards means it won’t happen. Sunak will have to wait at least two years to try to make history.
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英国上星期差一点（within a whisker）就有了第一个印度血统的首相。辛伟诚，四十二岁，于修咸顿出生，父母是印度裔移民。若他于上星期的选举中胜出，便创造了历史。巴拉克‧奥巴马获选为美国第一任黑人总统时，便创造了历史。辛伟诚输给卓慧思，仅差一个马鼻（within a whisker）。若你came within a whisker意即你非常接近达成某事了，但最终还是失败。这个习语亦可以有不同的用法。若你came within a whisker of drowning，意思即是你差点就溺毙。

英国政治体系跟美国的体系不同。一个美国总统只能出任两个四年的任期。若一个总统辞职或死亡，副总统便会继任，直至下一次大选。英国的选举每五年举行一次，选出执政党。胜出的政党可以决定由谁来当首相。英国并未限制一个首相可供职多久。只要首相所属的政党胜出选举，该名首相便可以无限期担任。上星期的选举就不是大选，它是执政的保守党一次内部的选举。

保守党国会议员迫使鲍里斯‧约翰逊辞任首相。在保守党国会议员一次选举中，八名党内的国会议员成为了取代约翰逊的候选人。党内国会议员选了卓慧思和辛伟诚为最后两名候选人。之后的阶段就是由十七万名有交会费的保守党党员投票，在卓和辛之间选一个人当首相。卓慧思暗示，至少在二○二四年之前，都不大可能（not on the cards）举行大选。To be not on the cards意即它不会发生。辛伟诚要等上至少两年，才能再尝试去创造历史了。
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁