领导职位尚未空缺,几个竞争者早就在为向上爬而钩心斗角了.用英语怎么说？

领导职位尚未空缺,几个竞争者早就在为向上爬而钩心斗角了.

Several candidates had been manoeuvring for position long before the leadership became vacant.

several

adj. 几个的，专有的，各自的，分别的；pron. 几个，数个，一些；

例句
He's already altered several of the proposals in his economic plan to accommodate demands of special interests.
他已经改动了经济计划中的几项提议以迁就特殊利益集团的要求。

Candidates

n. 报考者( candidate的名词复数 )，申请求职者，攻读学位者，最后命运或结局如何已显然可见者；

例句
The seats are allotted to the candidates who have won the most votes...
席位被分配给了赢得选票最多的候选人。

had

v. 有（ have的过去式和过去分词 ），（亲属关系中）接受，拿，买到；

例句
He claimed that his parents had abandoned him...
他声称父母遗弃了他。

been

v. 用来表示某人或某物即主语本身，用来表示某人或某物属于某一群体或有某种性质（ be的过去分词 ），在，存在，不受干扰，去过了，be的过去分词；

例句
Have you been able to have any kind of contact?...
你联系上了吗？

manoeuvring

n. 调遣，部署，操纵；

例句
His appointment as prime minister owed much to the wily manoeuvring of the President.
他之所以被任命为总理，很大程度上是因为总统在阴谋操纵。

for

prep. 为，为了，倾向于，关于，当作；conj. 因为，由于；

例句
I've come looking for a bit of advice.
我特来讨教。

position

n. 位置，方位，地位，职位，态度，状态；vt. 安置，把…放在适当位置，给…定位，驻扎军队；

例句
As long as most people are happy to have the monarchy, the abolitionist position is an arrogant fantasy.
只要大多数人还乐意保留君主制，废除它的主张就是痴人说梦。

long

adj. 长的，长时间的，冗长的，过长的，长音的；adv. 长久地，始终，遥远地；n. 长时间，长时期，[语]长音节，（服装的）长尺寸，长裤；vi. 渴望，极想；

例句
As long as most people are happy to have the monarchy, the abolitionist position is an arrogant fantasy.
只要大多数人还乐意保留君主制，废除它的主张就是痴人说梦。

before

prep. 在…之前，先于，优于，当着…的面，与其…；conj. 在…之前，在…以前，比…早些，与其…；adv. 先前，从前，在前，在前方；

例句
He pleaded guilty before a court martial to absenting himself without leave.
在军事法庭上他对自己擅离职守表示服罪。

the

art. 指已提到的人（物），指说话人与听者已知的人（物），用于独一无二的事物前，与形容词最高级和序数词连用；

例句
He did have a real knowledge of the country...
他对该国的确知之甚多。

leadership

n. 领导，领导的才能或能力，一群领导者，带路，指引；

例句
The calls for reform come as intense debate continues among the leadership over the next five-year economic plan...
领导层继续在为下一个五年经济计划激烈争论之际，有人发出了改革的呼声。

became

v. 变为，成为（ become的过去式 ）；

例句
It became very clear that the incident was not just an aberration, it was not just a single incident.
事实已经很清楚，这件事不是偶发的，它并不是一起孤立的事件。

vacant

adj. 空闲的，空缺的，空虚的，茫然的；

例句
A vacant lot or a bombsite can, to the amateur naturalist, produce an extraordinary variety of flora and fauna...
对于业余博物学者来说,在一片空地上或被炸后的废墟里可能发现种类繁多的植物群和动物群。