Constituency-Focused Loyalists are the largest group, comprising nearly a quarter of backbench MPs. These MPs display a strong constituency focus and a high level of party loyalty. They are the least likely group to rebel and, when they speak in the Chamber, they are more likely than the average backbencher to mention constituency matters.

They tend not to be heavily involved in procedural matters, the internal workings of Parliament or chairing committees. They tend to ask fewer Written Questions than their colleagues and are not particularly interested in sponsoring and signing Early Day Motions. However, they do their fair share of work on select committees and more than their fair share on public bill committees.

Two examples of MPs in this group are the Conservative MPs Wendy Morton and Craig Mackinlay during their first terms of office in the 2015-17 Parliament. In general, when compared to the average backbench MP, Constituency-Focused Loyalists were more likely to be Conservative MPs and/or government backbenchers. They also tend to be younger, less experienced as MPs, and more likely to be female and from an ethnic minority background. They are more likely to have a small majority and to represent a constituency with low levels of deprivation.

Observing Generalists comprise just over a fifth of backbenchers. They are the least likely to specialise in particular policy areas. They occasionally rebel but are generally loyal. They speak in the Chamber less often than the average MP and, when they do, they occasionally contribute to debates about Parliament. They also have an average likelihood of mentioning constituency matters. Overall, Observing Generalists undertake less parliamentary activity than other MPs across all the measures we analyse.

Observing Generalists have often previously been ministers or shadow ministers. They are more likely than the average backbencher to have attended either Cambridge or Oxford and, if they attended the latter, to have studied PPE. They are also more likely to have a larger majority.

MPs who have played this role include former Ministers who have spent long periods of time on the frontbenches, such as Iain Duncan Smith during the 2015-17 Parliament, after he resigned as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and Ken Clarke once he had returned to the backbenches during the 2010-15 Parliament.

Campaigning All-rounders make up just under a fifth of backbenchers. MPs in this group tend to do a bit – and often a lot – of almost everything, except chairing committees.

They are campaigners because they make more extensive use of parliamentary mechanisms which offer “a chance to express an opinion, publicise a cause or support a position”, such as Early Day Motions, Adjournment Debates and Private Members’ Bills. They also tend to speak the most in the Chamber, ask the most Written Questions, rebel relatively often, contribute to debates about Parliament, and do their fair share of committee work.

The typical Campaigning All-rounder is more likely to be found on the opposition backbenches. They are more likely to come from a smaller party, less likely to be a Conservative MP and, if they are a Labour MP, much more likely to be a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group.

They are also less likely to have attended Oxbridge or studied PPE, to be a member of the aristocracy, or to be related to another MP. They often have a small majority and are more likely to represent a London constituency and/or a constituency with high levels of deprivation.

Examples include Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP, after she first entered Parliament in 2005, and Labour’s John McDonnell in his pre-Shadow Chancellor backbench incarnation.

Constituency-Focused Specialists also make up just under a fifth of backbenchers. They are the most likely to specialise in particular policy areas and are second only to Constituency-Focused Loyalists in their tendency to mention constituency matters when speaking in the Chamber, though they speak comparatively infrequently.

Their main focus is on departmental and cross-cutting select committees, and their involvement in other areas of parliamentary activity is usually less than MPs in other roles.

MPs in this group are more likely to be Labour MPs, opposition backbenchers, female and from an ethnic minority background. They are also more likely to represent constituencies with high levels of deprivation.

Members in this group include the Labour MP Glenda Jackson between 2010 and 2015 when she sat on the Work & Pensions select committee for the duration of the Parliament and Angela Smith, during her time as a Labour, Independent, Change UK and Liberal Democrat MP, who sat on the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs select committee during the 2017-19 Parliament.

The role of Networked All-round Parliamentarian shares characteristics with several other roles. MPs in this group comprise just under a tenth of backbenchers. Its members are all-rounders because they undertake parliamentary work in most, although not all, areas, and are parliamentarians because they often contribute to debates about the running of Parliament, are the most likely group to raise Points of Order and can often be found on the Panel of Chairs.

What most clearly differentiates them from MPs in other roles is the extent to which they are networked. They are most likely to hold outside interests, particularly second (or more) jobs and shares, and are the most likely to declare gifts.

They are more likely to be Conservative MPs, to sit on the opposition backbenches, and to have previously served as ministers or shadow ministers. They are also more likely to be a member of the aristocracy or related to another MP.

An archetypal example is the Conservative MP Christopher Chope. Our results suggest that he had at least a 0.998 probability of playing this role in every Parliament between 2005 and 2019.

Senior Specialist Parliamentarians make up around a fifteenth of backbenchers. They tend both to chair select committees and to specialise in particular policy areas, usually those related to the committees they chair. They are more intimately tied in with matters related to the running of Parliament because select committee chairs are members of the Liaison Committee, the key domestic/administrative select committee, which “considers the overall work of select committees, promotes effective scrutiny of Government and chooses committee reports for debate”. As a result, Senior Specialist Parliamentarians also raise Points of Order and contribute to debates about Parliament more often than the average backbencher.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Senior Specialist Parliamentarians tend to be older and to have spent more time as MPs, and are more likely to have previously been ministers or shadow ministers. They are more likely to be male, to be related to another MP, to have attended Oxford or Cambridge and, if they attend Oxford, to have studied PPE. They are also more likely to have a large majority.

The Conservative MPs William Cash and Bernard Jenkin can be seen as typical Senior Specialist Parliamentarians, with both having had a very high probability of playing this role across multiple parliaments.

Good House of Commons People comprise under 5% of backbench MPs, making them the smallest group. This is the only role also found in Donald Searing’s typology of the 1970s House of Commons.

Good House of Commons People are concerned with “keeping the ship afloat”. All MPs in this group are members of the Panel of Chairs, although not all members of the Panel of Chairs perform this role. They are therefore the most likely group to participate in Westminster Hall debates (as substitute Speakers), and the most likely to sit on Public Bill Committees (as chairs).

Their other parliamentary activity is around or below average, with two exceptions: they are, on average, the most likely group to rebel and the most likely to sit on parliamentary delegations of one kind or another.

This is another group whose members are likely to be older and to have spent more time as MPs. Good House of Commons People are also more likely to be male and white, and less likely to have attended Oxbridge, to be members of the aristocracy, or to be related to another MP. They are more likely to have large majorities and to represent constituencies with high levels of deprivation.

The Good House of Commons person par excellence can perhaps be considered the Conservative MP Roger Gale.

Our research analysed 26 forms of parliamentary activity for every backbench MP who served between 2001 and 2019, treating each Parliament in which they served as a separate case.

For each MP in each parliamentary period, the analysis estimated the probability that their behaviour matched the patterns associated with each role. The tables below list the MPs most likely to belong to each of the seven parliamentary roles, along with the Parliament in which that exemplar activity took place.

MPs may appear more than once in a table where their activity in multiple Parliaments strongly indicated membership of the same group.

Holden Bates, S. (11 June 2026), What roles do backbench MPs play (Hansard Society blog)