英國大選 夫人助陣

Samantha Cameron, wife of the leader of the U.K.'s main opposition party, prepared a cup of tea in her kitchen here on a recent Friday morning. Standing by a wall decorated with photos of her children, she discussed the couple's planned visit that day to a youth club.
最近一個周五的早上，英國主要反對黨領袖的夫人薩曼莎•卡梅隆(Samantha Cameron)在自家的廚房里準備了一杯茶。薩曼莎站在一面掛著孩子們照片的墻邊，談論著她和丈夫當天訪問一家青年俱樂部的計劃。

保守黨黨魁大衛(wèi)•卡梅隆與夫人薩曼莎

The scene, captured in a video posted on the party's Web site, marked Mrs. Cameron's debut on the campaign trail. It is the first in a series of clips that document outings she is making to campaign for her husband, Conservative Party leader David Cameron.
這一場景出自該黨網(wǎng)站上的一段視頻，也標志著卡梅隆夫人薩曼莎踏上為丈夫大衛(wèi)•卡梅隆(David Cameron)助選之路的首次亮相。大衛(wèi)•卡梅隆是英國保守黨（Conservative Party）黨魁。

Mrs. Cameron, like most other British political spouses, previously held minor roles in their husband's public careers. But, now, as Britain is galvanized by a close race on May 6, the candidates' wives are playing a much higher-profile role than before.
和大多數(shù)其他英國政客的配偶一樣，薩曼莎此前在丈夫的公眾事業(yè)上只是扮演了無足輕重的角色。不過眼下，英國正在為一場將在5月6日展開的勢均力敵的較量而振奮不已，因此候選人的夫人們正在承擔著比以往更加引人矚目的角色。

With less-discernible difference between policies in this campaign compared to many previous ones, candidates are looking to new ways to distinguish themselves and broaden their appeal.
和從前的多次大選相比，本次大選各黨派候選人在大政方針上的不同點并不明顯，因此他們在尋找新的途徑來脫潁而出，并擴大自己的影響力。

Mrs. Cameron, the 39-year-old creative director at a luxury stationery company, has reduced her work schedule to at least two days a week from four, and is making frequent appearances at charities and other events.
39歲的薩曼莎是一家高級文具公司的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)。她已經(jīng)將從前每周四天的工作時間減為了最少兩天，并開始頻繁出現(xiàn)在慈善活動和其他場合上。

Her photo runs often in newspapers and magazines, which chronicle everything from her pregnancy to her penchant for mixing designer clothes with less-expensive labels.
薩曼莎的照片經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在報紙和雜志上，媒體對她的關注從懷孕到她喜愛混搭設計師服裝和平價品牌的穿衣風格，無所不包。

Mrs. Cameron isn't alone in taking a bigger role: Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is accompanying her husband full time on the campaign trail. She also posts frequent updates on social-networking site Twitter Inc., where she has about a million followers -- more than six times the number of Labour Party members.
薩曼莎并不是唯一承擔更重要角色的人：首相戈登•布朗(Gordon Brown)的妻子莎拉•布朗(Sarah Brown)在競選活動中無時無刻不陪伴在丈夫左右。她還經(jīng)常在社交網(wǎng)站Twitter Inc.上更新自己的信息。莎拉在該網(wǎng)站上擁有大約100萬的追隨者，這相當于工黨(Labour Party)黨員的六倍還多。

Mrs. Brown, 46, also writes a weekly election diary for a U.K. paper and recently appeared on the cover of the Observer newspaper's monthly food magazine, writing about local and fair-trade produce and accompanied by photographs of the vegetable patch in the garden of No. 10 Downing St.

46歲的莎拉還為一家英國報紙撰寫競選周記。最近，她還出現(xiàn)在了《觀察家報》(Observer)飲食月刊的封面上，并就當?shù)爻霎a(chǎn)和公平貿(mào)易的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品撰寫了文章，并配有唐寧街10號花園里菜地的照片。

The magazine's editor says the piece has been in the works for some time.
該月刊的編輯表示，這篇報導已經(jīng)準備了一段時間了。

Miriam Gonzalez, wife of Liberal Democrat sensation Nick Clegg, also has suddenly emerged as a media figure, though she continues to work full time as a lawyer. In a recent television interview she said: 'I'm the wife of a politician. I don't have a role. I'm just married to him.' Mrs. Gonzalez didn't respond to a request to comment.
自由民主黨(Liberal Democrat)領袖尼克•克萊格(Nick Clegg)的妻子米利亞姆•岡薩雷斯(Miriam Gonzalez)也突然間成為了公眾人物，盡管她仍然繼續(xù)做著律師的全職工作。在最近的一次電視采訪中她說：“我是政客的妻子，我不承擔什么角色。我只是嫁給了他。”米利亞姆沒有回應我們的置評請求。

While the U.K. hasn't traditionally had a first lady culture, the fact that the wife of each leader of the three main political parties is accomplished and glamorous also has fed public and media interest.
盡管英國從傳統(tǒng)上講并沒有第一夫人文化，但英國三大政黨領袖的妻子都有所成就而且魅力不凡也迎合了公眾和媒體的興趣。

It comes on the heels of the attention on Michelle Obama and her French counterpart, Carla Bruni, and a generally more presidential style of politics in the U.K.
這一現(xiàn)象緊隨著對米歇爾•奧巴馬(Michelle Obama)和法國第一夫人卡拉•布呂尼(Carla Bruni)的關注而來，此外，英國的政治風格從總體來看也變得更為“總統(tǒng)化”。

保守黨黨魁大衛(wèi)•卡梅隆與夫人薩曼莎

While party leaders' spouses have drawn interest before, 'it wasn't at the high-octane level that it is now,' says Sandra Howard, wife of Michael Howard, who led the Conservative party's unsuccessful attempt in the most recent election.
盡管黨派領袖的配偶也曾吸引人們的注意力，“但并沒有達到現(xiàn)在這么高的關注度，”桑德拉•霍華德(Sandra Howard)表示。她的丈夫是曾帶領保守黨參加上屆英國大選但最終落敗的保守黨黨魁邁克爾•霍華德(Michael Howard)。

The parties hope that a popular spouse reflects well on a candidate, influencing voters about factors beyond specific policies, such as trustworthiness. But many experts say they doubt that a spouse swings votes.
各黨派都希望一個受民眾喜愛的配偶能夠為候選人加分，進而在具體政策以外的領域，比如可信度上影響選民。不過許多專家表示，他們對于伴侶改變選票一事持懷疑態(tài)度。

'The family context is important to voters' but most people won't vote for someone just because their wife wears 'a nice dress,' says Fiona Millar, who was an adviser to the wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“家庭關系對選民來說是個重要因素，”不過大多數(shù)人不會因為候選人的妻子穿著“一條漂亮裙子”就投上一票，菲奧娜•米勒(Fiona Millar)表示。她曾擔任英國前首相托尼•布萊爾(Tony Blair)妻子的顧問。

During Mr. Blair's leadership, the political spouse's profile shifted significantly. Cherie Blair broke from tradition by having her own career and speaking out frequently about her views.
在布萊爾執(zhí)政時代，領袖配偶的地位發(fā)生了巨大的變化。切麗•布萊爾(Cherie Blair)通過擁有自己的事業(yè)并經(jīng)常公開發(fā)表自己的意見而打破了傳統(tǒng)。

Her successor, Mrs. Brown, is a public-relations executive who has long played an active role in her husband's career, including taking the unusual step of speaking at party conferences. A Labour Party spokeswoman said Mrs. Brown wasn't available to comment.
切麗的繼任者，布朗的夫人莎拉是一位公關負責人，她長期以來都在丈夫的職業(yè)生涯中扮演著的積極角色，其中包括在黨派會議上講話的意外之舉。工黨的一位發(fā)言人表示，無法聯(lián)系到莎拉對本文置評。

Mrs. Cameron, however, hadn't sought the spotlight in the past. She previously said she wanted to model herself on Margaret Thatcher's husband, whose motto was the prime minister's consort should be 'always present, never there.'
然而，卡梅隆的妻子薩曼莎從前卻并未主動尋求過公眾的注意。她曾經(jīng)表示，希望以瑪格麗特•撒切爾(Margaret Thatcher)的丈夫為榜樣。撒切爾丈夫的座右銘就是首相的配偶應該“永遠到位，卻如隱形。”

But in mid-March, with opinion polls showing the Conservatives' lead over Labour narrowing, Mr. Cameron revealed that his newly pregnant wife was about to take on an active role.
不過，3月中旬的民意調(diào)查顯示保守黨較工黨的領先優(yōu)勢正在縮小，于是卡梅隆透露說，他剛剛懷孕的妻子將承擔起更積極的角色。

'You are going to see a lot more of her on the campaign trail,' he said in an interview on ITV PLC.
“你會在競選活動中更多地看到她，”卡梅隆在接受ITV PLC的采訪時表示。

Days later, Mrs. Cameron gave her first television interview as part of a program about her husband; the party released the transcript to journalists beforehand.
幾天以后，薩曼莎在一個有關她丈夫的節(jié)目中第一次接受了電視臺的訪問；保守黨事先向記者提供了訪問稿。

Mrs. Cameron described her relationship with 'Dave,' his qualities as a father as well as some of his annoying habits, echoing comments Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Obama have made about their husbands.
薩曼莎講述了她和“戴夫(Dave，大衛(wèi)的昵稱)”的關系，他作為一名父親的品質(zhì)以及卡梅隆一些讓人討厭的毛病，這效仿了莎拉•布朗和米歇爾•奧巴馬對自己丈夫的評價。

'He's not very good at picking up his clothes. He's a terrible channel flicker. I have to be quite firm about him not fiddling with his phone and BlackBerry too much,' Mrs. Cameron said.
“他在挑選衣服方面不太在行。他看電視太愛頻繁換臺了。我不得不很堅決地要求他不要太過沉迷于擺弄他的手機和黑莓(BlackBerry)，”薩曼莎說。

Mrs. Cameron wasn't available to comment, a party spokeswoman said. Mr. Cameron has publicly said she wanted to help on the campaign.
保守黨的一名發(fā)言人表示，未能聯(lián)系薩曼莎置評?？仿≡_表示，薩曼莎希望自己能在大選中幫上忙。