Quick links
backbencher
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:back-bencher
n. — Politics
a member of the legislative assembly who is neither a cabinet member nor opposition critic.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term is likely a preservation, like backbench, from BrE. However, the earliest attestations for backbencher and back bencher appear in the London Times in 1908 and 1907 respectively. The earliest attestation in OED-3 is in 1910. The term appears in US print news in the early 1920s. In Canada, the term appears as early as 1897. It is possible that backbencher, as an extension of backbench, is a Canadian innovation, although it may have developed elsewhere. Internet searches indicate that the term is most prevalent in Australia, then Canada. This demonstrates the usage of backbencher in other former British Colonies.
See also COD-2, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Cdn, Brit., Austral., and NZ", and ITP-Nelson, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Chiefly Canadian & British".
See also COD-2, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Cdn, Brit., Austral., and NZ", and ITP-Nelson, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Chiefly Canadian & British".
See: backbench
Quotations
1897
OUR M.P. is a grand man. Of course when he is home amongst us he is a little bigger than when he gets down to Ottawa, where there are men of his size, and more. Politically speaking, he is a back bencher, and a good many of us realize it, though we found it out at Ottawa and not in his own county that ran him and built bonfires when he was elected.
1912
Mr. Napoleon Champagne (East Ottawa), a new member, is not content to be rated as a back-bencher.
1935
His judgment is at the command and his word the law of Prime Minister and back-bencher alike.
1955
Quebec will never accept establishment of divorce courts in the province, a Quebec backbencher told the Commons today.
1977
New rules adopted in Ontario now make it possible for bills from backbenchers to come for a vote on a regular basis.
1997
NDP health critic Judy Wascylycia-Leis said she hopes Kent's report will serve as a catalyst for Liberal backbenchers who have quietly been complaining about the federal cuts to medicare.
2013
The Prime Minister has also been quoted as having been offered a joint but he was too drunk to smoke it, but that was back in 2004 when he still had a personality.
Meanwhile all the other cabinet ministers, backbenchers and almost everyone else in our various levels of government have also been asked The Question. The answers all fall into three categories; "I tried it as a kid and didn't like it", "I tried it as a kid but it didn't do anything for me," and "Never, ever." Of all the reports that have surfaced to date, however, only Trudeau admitted to have smoked while he was a sitting MP. The others know better. Only Justin has the royal jelly to pull that off.
References
- COD-2
- OED-3
- ITP Nelson
Images
