backbench

Why Westminster’s new backbench MPs may unlock progress on climate change

Why Westminster’s new backbench MPs may unlock progress on climate change: Mistervlad / shutterstock As far as the UK government is concerned, its backbenchers are “the most important Members in the House [of Commons]”. This simple insight, from a classic 1976 article by the political scientist Anthony King, could not have been demonstrated more clearly …

Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Theresa May (and soon Nicola Sturgeon): the strange backbench lives of former national leaders

Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Theresa May (and soon Nicola Sturgeon): the strange backbench lives of former national leaders: UK Parliament/Flickr, CC BY-NC Former prime ministers are currently making a habit of intervening in government policy. Boris Johnson deployed sources to urge current prime minister Rishi Sunak not to abandon his Brexit policies and to send …