back·bench

(băk′bĕnch′)

1. Chiefly British The rear benches in the House of Commons where junior members of Parliament sit behind government officeholders and their counterparts in the opposition party.

2. New members of Congress considered as a group.

back·bench′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

backbench

(ˈbækbɛntʃ)

adj

(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) Brit and Austral and NZ involving backbenchers: a backbench MP.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

backbench - any of the seats occupied by backbenchers in the House of Commons

seat - any support where you can sit (especially the part of a chair or bench etc. on which you sit); "he dusted off the seat before sitting down"

Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom

Translations

backbench

[ˈbækˈbentʃ] ADJ [committee, revolt] → de los diputados sin cargo oficial; [MP] → sin cargo oficial

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

backbench

[ˈbækbɛntʃ] (British, Australian) modif [opinion, debate] → des députés de base; [rebellion] → des députés de base
backbench MP → député m membre du parlement sans portefeuille
the Conservative backbench MP Sir Teddy Taylor → le député conservateur Sir Teddy Taylor

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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References in periodicals archive

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Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Quits

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Hirunika: UNP backbench MPs decided to boycott PM's events

Instead of private mutterings, grumpy Labour Party meetings or backbench gatherings, disagreement over the council's long-term approach to housing developments - and developers - is now spilling out into the public arena.

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The Backbench Business Committee was created in 2010 in an attempt to wrest power away from party leaders and allow backbench MPs to force issues which concern their constituents to the top of the agenda.

Gateshead MP Ian Mearns fights for top Commons job deciding debates; MP Ian Mearns is standing for chairman of the Backbench Business Committee which takes power out of the hands of party leaders

Instead, as Deputy Speaker Paula Biggar explains, backbench MLAs must do constituency work and hold meetings in a variety of locations including their offices in the capital buildings, local government-run information access centres, libraries, coffee shops or even in their own homes.

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