Awkward Bench
English
Proper noun
the Awkward Bench
- (UK politics, slang) The front row of seats below the gangway on the Labour side of the House of Commons, where rebel MPs often sit.
- 1999, Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics (page 288)
- Described as 'a sabre-toothed growler on Labour's awkward bench' (Robert Hardman), he sits alongside Dennis Skinner a mere arm's length from the Chief Whip, whom, in opposition during the 1992 Parliament, he defied 52 times, […]
- 2005, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) (page 451)
- I am pleased that he is on the awkward Bench and hope to see him here in future.
- 1999, Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics (page 288)
See also
- below the gangway