cross-bencher

See also: crossbencher

English

Alternative forms

• crossbencher

Etymology

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

• “cross-bencher”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.