In parliamentary politics, a technical group or mixed group is a heterogeneous group of elected officials who are of differing ideologies, comprising multiple small political parties, independent politicians, or a combination of both. They can be distinguished from more conventional parliamentary groups which have a coherent political ideology (such as all members of the group being from the same political party). Technical groups are formed for technical reasons, so that members enjoy certain rights or benefits that would otherwise remain unavailable to them outside a formally recognized parliamentary group.