In each question below, an idiom or phrase is given followed by three sentences. Identify which of the sentences use the given idiom or phrase correctly in terms of both grammar and context. Idiom: BACK STAIRS INFLUENCE 1. The parliamentary inquiry revealed that the defence procurement contract had been awarded not through the prescribed competitive tendering process but through back stairs influence — with a retired general leveraging his private access to the minister’s office to steer the decision toward a preferred vendor. 2. Historians of the Tudor court have documented how Anne Boleyn initially exercised back stairs influence over Henry VIII through her role as lady-in-waiting, shaping royal policy on ecclesiastical appointments long before her formal elevation to queenship gave her any official standing. 3. The trade union’s negotiating committee rejected what they characterised as back stairs influence from the management’s side — referring to the employer’s practice of publicly announcing wage offers before private negotiations had concluded, thereby pressuring workers through media opinion rather than the bargaining table.

“Back stairs influence” means the exercise of power or influence through private, unofficial, or covert channels — particularly through personal access to persons in authority — rather than through legitimate, transparent, or formally established processes. The idiom originates from the image of using servants’ back stairs to gain private access to powerful figures, bypassing the formal front entrance. The key elements are: (a) covert or unofficial access, (b) to persons of authority, and (c) used to shape decisions or outcomes. Sentence 1 uses the idiom correctly. The retired general uses private access to the minister’s office — an unofficial, covert channel — to influence a public procurement decision. This is precisely back stairs influence: private access to authority used to shape an official outcome.  Sentence 2 uses the idiom correctly. Anne Boleyn exercised influence over royal policy through her unofficial role as lady-in-waiting — a private, informal channel of access to authority — before she had any formal standing. This is a historically accurate and contextually precise application of the idiom.  Sentence 3 uses the idiom incorrectly. The sentence describes management publicly announcing wage offers before private negotiations concluded — this is a transparent, public action, however manipulative its intent. “Back stairs influence” specifically denotes covert, private, unofficial channels of influence. A public media announcement is the opposite of back stairs — it is overt and front-facing. The correct description for this management behaviour would be “bad faith negotiation” or “public pressure tactics.”  Hence (A) Only 1 and 2 is the correct answer.