cross-bencher

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See also: crossbencher

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From cross-bench +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˌkɹɒsˈbɛnt͡ʃə/

Noun

cross-bencher (plural cross-benchers)

  1. (politics) A member of the British House of Lords or the Senate of Canada or Australia who sits on a cross-bench, or who proclaims independence or political neutrality.
    • 2007, Bruce Ackerman, “Meritocracy v. Democracy”, in London Review of Books, volume 29, number 5, page 9:
      Putting the hereditary nobility to one side, the life peers, and especially the cross-benchers, carry on an older, less narrowly professional tradition of distinguished service: rule by the ‘great and the good’, if not necessarily the best and brightest.

Further reading