In many

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

s and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench (or front bench) and are described as frontbenchers. Those sitting behind them are known as backbenchers. Independent and minority parties sit to the side or on benches between the two sides, and are referred to as crossbenchers.

United Kingdom

In the British House of Commons, the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

frontbench is traditionally called the Treasury bench (

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

is the oldest government department). The government frontbench is on the right hand side as seen by the Chairman (typically the

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

or the

Lord Speaker The Lord Speaker is the presiding officer, chairman and highest authority of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The office is analogous to the Speaker of the House of Commons: the Lord Speaker is elected by the member ...

), and is occupied by Government ministers. The opposition frontbench is occupied by ''shadow'' ministers, of which the most senior form the Shadow Cabinet.

Canada

While backbenchers are referred to in the House of Commons of Canada (and the provincial legislatures), the front seats on the government side are reserved for cabinet ministers. Front row members of the governing party are not referred to as frontbenchers, but as cabinet ministers. Some "frontbenchers" actually sit in the centre of the second row, so as to be seen directly behind the party leader during Question Period (and thus, in the television frame). The same arrangement exists for each provincial legislature and the territorial legislature of Yukon. In the case of Nunavut and Northwest Territories where there is consensus government with a non-partisan makeup, ministers sit amongst regular members.

Ireland

A front bench in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, refers to any organised group of party members who holds any degree of speaking power (derived from the party) on specific issues. The Teachtaí Dála (TDs) who are members of the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

constitute the government front bench, while the members of parties in declared opposition to the government constitute the opposition front bench.

Australia

The

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

also has a front bench, which includes all ministers and shadow ministers. In more recent times, journalists have casually referred to ministers as frontbenchers.

New Zealand

New Zealand follows the Westminster tradition whereby the front benches, or in the New Zealand House of Representatives front ''seats'', are reserved for the government and opposition leaders. The government ministers sit to the Speaker's right, whilst the opposition leaders sit to the Speaker's left (as seen from the Speaker's chair). The term frontbencher is therefore also used in New Zealand but usually refers to the foremost leaders and spokespersons of the Official Opposition rather than those on the government front benches.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Frontbench
definition from

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

Legislatures Parliament of the United Kingdom Organizational structure of political parties