In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file".
Opposition backbenches in the British House of Commons chamber
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.
William Pitt the Younger addressing the Commons in The House of Commons, 1793–94 by Anton Hickel.
The House of Commons in the early 19th century by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson.
The old Chamber of the House of Commons built by Sir Charles Barry was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War. The essential features of Barry's design were preserved when the chamber was rebuilt.
The modern chamber, which opened following post-war reconstruction in 1950.