双语 | 科普！一文了解“英国大选”的来龙去脉及英文表达

每个国家根据自己的国情，发展出了不同的政治制度。其中，英国是较早实行普选制的国家，有意思的是，我们常常会看到英国国会里热火朝天、唇枪舌剑的辩论景象，甚至被人戏称为“英国德云社”。那么，英国国会的作用是什么？英国大选又是如何进行的？别着急，读完这篇文章你就门儿清了~

General elections in the UK

英国大选

In the UK, general elections take place in May once every five years, unless Parliament votes to hold an election sooner.

英国大选每5年举行一次，时间定在5月。此外，国会还可以投票决定提前进行大选。

General elections in the UK are made up of 650 individual elections that take place on a single day, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A similar number of voters live in each area of the country marked out as one of the UK's 650 'constituencies'. Every eligible resident gets to go out and vote for one of the would-be representatives, called candidates. The candidate with the most votes in each area wins a place, or 'seat', in the House of Commons.

英国大选由英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰的650场公民选举组成，选举在同日进行。依据居住在全国各地区的选民数量，所有选民被划分为650个选区，各选区人数相近。有选举资格的居民走上街头，为有望成为代表的一员（即“候选人”）投票。各区获得票数最多的候选人将赢得下议院中的一个席位。

What is a snap election?

什么是提前选举？

A snap election is an election that happens earlier than it usually expected.

提前选举是先于通常预期时间进行的选举。

The next general election was not scheduled to take place until 2020 as the last one was held in 2015. Typically they are held every five years.

上次大选时间为2015年，下次大选计划在2020年进行，一般情况下每5年举行一次。

Voting for political parties

给政党投票

To get votes, candidates campaign in their constituency. They announce a set of policies they say will guide them when making decisions if they are elected. Usually, they join together with other people who share the same ideas as part of a political party. A vote for a political party is also a vote for that party's guiding principles.

为了获得选票，候选人在各自的选区开展竞选活动，宣布一系列政策，并表示如果当选，这些政策将成为他们的决策指导。他们通常会联合其他志同道合的人作为政党的一分子，为政党投票也就意味着支持该政党的指导方针。

Britain's three biggest political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. Normally these parties will support a candidate in most constituencies across the country. There are several smaller political parties too. Candidates who don't belong to a political party are called 'independents'.

保守党、工党和自由民主党是英国最大的三个政党，通常这些政党会在全国大部分选区支持某位候选人。英国还有一些规模稍小的政党。没有加入政党的候选人被称作“独立候选人”。

Who can vote in the General Election?

哪些人可以参加大选投票？

To vote in the general election you must be:

• be registered to vote

• be 18 or over on the day of the election (“polling day”)

• be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen

• be resident at an address in the UK (or a British citizen living abroad who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years)

• not be legally excluded from voting

参加大选投票的居民须完成注册，截至投票日时年满18岁，具有英国、爱尔兰或英联邦公民身份，在英国有固定居所（或生活在国外、过去15年在英国注册过投票的英国公民），并且没有被法律剥夺选举权。

Counting the votes

投票统计

Candidates and parties campaign until polling day. Then it's up to citizens to make up their minds. Every eligible resident gets to cast one vote for a candidate in their local constituency. The candidate with the most votes becomes the local Member of Parliament, or MP, for that area. He or she will represent everyone in the constituency in the House of Commons.

在选举日到来之前，候选人和各党派将不断为竞选拉票。由公民来决定选谁。有选举资格的居民可在当地选区为所支持的候选人投票。获得票数最多的候选人将当选为该选区的国会议员。此候选人将在下议院中代表该选区所有公民。

Under this system of electing representatives every citizen gets one vote, and the candidate with the most votes wins. The system is known as 'first-past-the-post'.

在这种选举代表制度下，每个公民只能投一票，获得票数最多的候选人获胜。这种制度也被成为“简单多数票当选”。

How is the UK Prime Minister elected?

英国首相是如何选举出来的？

The UK Prime Minister is the head of the government, but they are also an MP, with Theresa May being the MP for Maidenhead.

英国首相是政府首脑，同时也是国会议员，特蕾莎·梅是梅登黑德选区的国会议员。

People vote for who they wish to be elected as the MP for their local area. Usually voters go to a polling station and vote for one candidate for the role. The person who receives the most votes is appointed in the role for up to five years.

在各自的选区中，人们可以为自己心中希望当选议员的人投票。通常选民们会去投票站为支持的候选人投出一票。获得票数最多的人被任命为国会议员，最长任期为五年。

Typically the political party who receives the most number of seats in the House of Commons forms the government.

通常在下议院获得席位最多的政党进行执政。

The leader of the political party who wins will be made Prime Minister.

最终获胜的政党党魁将成为首相。

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=j0305p7y0kg&width=500&height=375&auto=0

The big prize: government

大蛋糕：政府

While candidates compete with each other, the political parties are also chasing a big prize: a chance to form the government. The government is responsible for running the country. Political parties aim to win the general election so they can put their ideas and election promises into action.

当候选人彼此竞争的时候，各政党之间也在争夺着大蛋糕，希望借机组建政府。政府的职责是治理国家。各政党都希望赢得大选，这样便可以将自己的想法和竞选承诺付诸实施。

Under the UK's system of government, political parties strive to win as many constituency elections as possible. If one party is able win more than half the seats in the House of Commons (326) then its leader gets to become prime minister and form a government. All other parties become the 'opposition'. The party that wins the second largest number of seats becomes the main opposition party. Its leader becomes the 'leader of the opposition'.

在英国的政府体制下，各政党都全力以赴，以赢得更多选区的支持。如果某一政党能在下议院中赢得过半席位（326票），该党党魁将成为首相，组建政府执政。其他政党则成为“在野党（反对党）”。所获席位排名第二的政党将成为主要反对党，该党党魁将成为“反对党党魁”。

For a government to put its election promises into action it needs the approval of a majority of MPs in the House of Commons. By winning a majority of the seats in the Commons, a political party can be confident it will have enough support for its ideas and plans during votes.

执政党需经过下议院多数议员表决同意，才能履行竞选承诺。对于能够在下议院赢得多数席位的政党来说，应该有信心能够在投票中获得必要的支持，以推进自己的观点和计划。

No overall majority = hung parliament 

无多数议会 = 悬浮议会

In the 2010 general election, however, no single party won more than half the seats in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party at the time, led by David Cameron, won the most with 306. The Labour Party, which was led by Gordon Brown, came second with 258 seats. The Liberal Democrats came third with 57 seats. This election result is known as a hung parliament, where no single party is able to claim more than half the seats in the Commons.

在2010年的大选中，没有任何党派赢得下议院过半数席位。当时，由戴维·卡梅伦领导的保守党赢得的席位最多，为306席。戈登·布朗领导的工党位列第二，赢得258席。自由民主党则排名第三，获57席。这种大选结果被称为“悬浮议会”——没有任何党派能够获得超过半数的下议院席位。

So what happens in the case of a hung parliament? There are two main possibilities:

那么，在悬浮议会的情况下，会发生什么？主要由两种可能性：

• Two or more parties can agree to work together to govern the country.

两个或多个政党能够同意共同治理国家。

• The party with the most seats can also try to govern with a minority of seats in the Commons. If the party can't get enough support on an important vote, however, it risks defeat, which may force a general election.

赢得最多席位的政党也可以尝试以下议院少数席位治国。但是，如果在重要投票中，政党不能获得足够支持，那就有失败的风险，也可能会导致重新大选。

In the 2010 election, after several days of negotiations, the Liberal Democrat leader at the time, Nick Clegg, and David Cameron agreed their parties would work together.

在2010年的选举中，经过几天的谈判，当时的自民党党魁尼克·克莱格和保守党党魁戴维·卡梅伦同意两党共同理政。

▲前保守党党魁戴维•卡梅伦（左）和前自民党党魁尼克·克莱格（右）

By joining forces the two parties combined had a majority of seats in the House of Commons, enough to form a government. This is called a coalition government.

两党联合起来，在下议院拥有多数席位，足以组建政府。这就是所谓的联合政府。

英国大选相关词汇：

general election  大选，普选

snap election  提前选举

constituency  选区；（选区的）全体选民

campaign  竞选活动

Parliament  议会，国会

Prime Minister  首相

House of Commons  下议院

House of Lords  上议院

Conservative Party  保守党

Labour Party  工党

Liberal Democrats  自由民主党

Scottish National Party  苏格兰民族党

United Kingdom Independence Party  英国独立党

Plaid Cymru  威尔士民族党

polling day  选举日

polling station  投票站

Member of Parliament (MP)  国会议员

first-past-the-post  简单多数制

opposition party  反对党

hung parliament  悬浮议会

coalition government  联合政府

political party  政党

election promises  竞选承诺

independent  独立候选人，无党派者

first-past-the-post  简单多数票当选

head of the government  政府首脑

form the government  组建政府

leader of a political party  政党党魁

majority of the seats  多数席位

英文来源：英国国会官网，英国《太阳报》

编译：Janet、YOYO、阿狸

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