“He appealed to the backbench country gentlemen, whose prejudices he shared.”

“Usually when a minister's backbench committee opposes or has serious concerns about a plan, it triggers a rethink.”

“The whip passes on to the party leadership the opinions of backbench members.”

“Ideas that raced through his head, as a backbencher, became concrete legislation once he held the Ministerial reins.”

“And as a backbencher you will need to allow your successors to get on with that task without undue interference.”

“Associating the stolid backbencher with a tax haven based in an exotic Caribbean location requires quite a feat of imagination.”

“His rediscovered Gaullism was one of the forces driving wavering Labour backbenchers into the lobbies to support the Prime Minister.”

“Even Liberal backbenchers concede that the Prime Minister's first instincts are authoritarian.”

“Party leaders and backbenchers both rated cross-voting as the most serious violation of party discipline.”