Editing Backbencher (section)

==By country==
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===United Kingdom===
{{Essay|section|date=June 2022}}
The most important backbench role is that of a constituency representative; constituents rely heavily on their MPs to represent them in parliament and make sure their concerns are heard, whether or not they voted for the MP representing them. Constituents may email and meet their MPs, raising the issues and concerns they want the government to hear.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Member of Parliament: The Job of a Backbencher|last=Radice|first=Lisanne|publisher=Basingstoke : Macmillan|year=1990|isbn=978-0333491218|pages=141–154}}</ref> Backbenchers have an important opportunity to raise their constituents concerns directly to the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] in [[Prime Minister's Questions]]. 

Backbenchers also have an unofficial agenda-setting power, with Opposition Day debates, [[Private Members' Bills in the Parliament of the United Kingdom|private member's bills]], and [[Prime Minister's Questions]] available to place items on the parliamentary agenda which are awkward for the government. The [[Wright Committee]] reforms introduced in the UK provided backbenchers with much more power in committees, giving Parliament greater control of its agenda, and increasing backbench membership in committees vastly.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Heffernan|first1=Richard|last2=Hay|first2=Colin|last3=Russell|first3=Meg|last4=Cowley|first4=Philip|date=2016|title=Developments in British Politics 10|doi=10.1057/978-1-137-49475-7|isbn=978-1-137-49473-3}}</ref>

Additionally, the [[Backbench Business Committee|Commons Backbench Business Committee]] was created in 2010 with cross-party support. It debates matters unlikely to be debated in government time, with each decision voted upon formally. By the end of 2010 [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|coalition government]] it had undergone 300 debates, ranging from prisoner voting rights to the [[Hillsborough disaster]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Developments In British Politics|last=Russell|first=Meg|publisher=Palgrave|year=2010|isbn=9781137494740|location=London|pages=110–111}}</ref> Furthermore, they have influence as discussed above when they are a member of a committee, these committees provide a perfect opportunity for backbenchers to have their voices heard in the legislative process. It usually proves difficult for backbenchers to be involved and have direct input in the legislative process when they are not involved in these activities.