Crossbench

E272762

The Crossbench is a group of independent, non-party-affiliated members in the UK House of Lords who are not aligned with any political party.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Crossbench canonical 8
Crossbench peers 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf non-party-affiliated grouping
parliamentary group
cannotForm government
official opposition
chamberType upper house
country United Kingdom
describedAs non-party-affiliated members of the House of Lords
distinguishedFrom government benches
opposition benches
political parties in the House of Lords
governingBody House of Lords Commission
surface form: House of Lords Commission (for administrative matters)
hasCharacteristic cross-party expertise
members vote independently
no collective policy platform
no party whip
not aligned with any political party
often holds balance of power in close votes
scrutinises legislation
hasLeaderTitle Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
hasMemberType Lords Spiritual (in some classifications excluded)
hereditary peers
life peers
hasNo formal membership rules like political parties
party funding structure
party manifesto
hasOffice Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
hasPluralForm Crossbenchers
house House of Lords
jurisdiction United Kingdom
language English
legislativeFunction committee work
participation in debates
scrutiny of legislation
locatedIn House of Lords
meetsAt Palace of Westminster
nameOrigin named after the physical cross benches in the chamber
partOf British Parliament
surface form: Parliament of the United Kingdom
partyAffiliation none
politicalAlignment independent
relatedConcept crossbenchers
independent politician
roleOfConvenor coordinates Crossbench business
organises speaking lists for Crossbench peers
represents Crossbench peers in House administration
seatingLocation benches between government and opposition sides in the House of Lords chamber
selectionMethod appointment on advice of the Prime Minister
hereditary peer by-election (for some members)
recommendation by the House of Lords Appointments Commission
usedIn UK parliamentary context

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Martin Rees parliamentaryGroup Crossbench
Mary Warnock memberOf Crossbench
this entity surface form: Crossbench peers
John parliamentaryGroup Crossbench
subject surface form: John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley