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bencher) Jump to: navigation, search "Backbench" redirects here.
For other uses, see Backbench (disambiguation). For the New
Zealand television show, see Back Benches.  In Westminster
parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament
(MP) or a legislator who holds no governmental office and is not
a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead
simply a member of the "rank and file".  The term dates from
1855.[1] A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to
receive high office, a senior figure dropped from government or
someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit either in
the ministry or the opposition Shadow Ministry. By extension, a
backbencher is not a reliable supporter of all of their party's
goals and policies.  In most parliamentary systems, backbenchers
individually do not have much power to influence government
policy. However, they may play a role in providing services to
their constituents and