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. ...

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 political ideology ...

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

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

backbencher 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 ...

s. 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 ...

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 ec ...

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 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 Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

and

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

where there is consensus government with a non-partisan makeup, ministers sit amongst regular members.

Ireland

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland r ...

, the lower house of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): **Dáil Éireann ...

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 go ...

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 legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

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 Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

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