What type of study is this?

This is a Cross-Sectional Study study.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to update the understanding of backbench roles in the UK House of Commons using Latent Class Analysis.

March 15, 2026Open Access

Backbench roles in the twenty-first century UK House of Commons: a Latent Class Analysis

Key Points

This research aims to update the understanding of backbench roles in the UK House of Commons using Latent Class Analysis.
Utilized a newly-curated dataset of parliamentary activity from 2001 to 2019.
Employed Latent Class Analysis to identify distinct backbench roles.
Focused on all House of Commons backbenchers.
Identified seven distinct backbench roles, with only one role found in prior analyses.
Findings have implications for understanding the activities of UK MPs.
Results contribute to comparative research on parliamentary roles.

Abstract

Abstract Parliamentary roles are central to the functioning of legislatures, but the common starting point for their analysis contains methodological and conceptual flaws and is based on now-50-year-old interviews. We seek to update our understanding by using a new method within parliamentary roles scholarship—Latent Class Analysis—and a newly-curated dataset of parliamentary activity of all House of Commons backbenchers (2001–19). We find seven backbench roles, only one of which can be found in previous Commons role arrays. Our approach and results have implications for how we understand UK MPs’ activities and for wider (comparative) research on parliamentary roles.

Backbench roles in the twenty-first century UK House of Commons: a Latent Class Analysis

Key Points

Abstract

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