While picking up the milk jug to add milk to his coffee cup, he explained in a way Becky could understand: "The political secretary is the kind of person who writes letters for the ministers, runs errands, and nods along during meetings. Although they aren't often seen in the newspapers, they're at least familiar faces in White Hall and can enter and exit from the side of the red notice board without being stopped by the guards."
He paused, feeling this might still be a bit hard to understand, so he used another analogy: "It's like in the kitchen, the person standing beside the chef responsible for chopping vegetables and assisting; although they're not the main character, chopping the onion wrong can make the entire feast taste peculiar."
Becky understood half of it and nodded earnestly: "And what about backseat parliamentarians?"
