DCHP-2
backbencher back-bencher DCHP-2 (October 2016)
n. — Politics
a member of the legislative assembly who is neither a cabinet member nor opposition critic.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term is likely a preservation, like backbench, from BrE. However, the earliest attestations for backbencher and back bencher appear in the London Times in 1908 and 1907 respectively. The earliest attestation in OED-3 is in 1910. The term appears in US print news in the early 1920s. In Canada, the term appears as early as 1897. It is possible that backbencher, as an extension of backbench, is a Canadian innovation, although it may have developed elsewhere. Internet searches indicate that the term is most prevalent in Australia, then Canada. This demonstrates the usage of backbencher in other former British Colonies.
See also COD-2, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Cdn, Brit., Austral., and NZ", and ITP-Nelson, s.v. "backbencher", which is marked "Chiefly Canadian & British".
