Category Archives: Garrick club

Judi Dench and Siân Phillips become first female members of Garrick Club

Posted on by

Exclusive: Veteran actors fast-tracked into venerable London club in wake of men-only rule being jettisoned after 193 years

The Garrick Club has named Judi Dench and Siân Phillips as distinguished members, making them the first women to be allowed to join the club in its 193-year history.

The actors were given fast-tracked membership during the club’s annual general meeting on Monday evening. Until now, no woman had been allowed into the Garrick unless invited in and accompanied around the building by a man.

Continue reading...

London’s remaining men-only gentlemen’s clubs discuss female membership

Posted on by

Club secretaries at some institutions are understood to be consulting lawyers after vote at Garrick

Discussions are under way over whether to admit women at several of London’s remaining gentlemen’s clubs after this week’s vote by Garrick club members to allow women to join after 193 years.

The Travellers Club, the Savile Club, the Beefsteak Club, Boodle’s, Buck’s, Brooks’s, the East India Club and White’s are among a handful of the remaining London clubs that still do not admit female members.

Continue reading...

‘No longer remotely defensible’: Garrick’s decision to admit women shows times have changed

Posted on by

Issue was not existence of men-only clubs but uniqueness of Garrick’s powerful membership list casting unflattering spotlight on British establishment

Who cares that an elite organisation full of mostly elderly white men has decided to allow women to join them in a small central London private members’ club?

Such was the reaction of many of the club’s members who had responded with extreme ill-temper to the Guardian’s recent decision to publish the names of about 60 of the Garrick Club’s most influential members. There has been an orgy of mansplaining in newspaper comment pieces. The Garrick’s rules prohibit networking or even working inside the building, these members say, so it would be very wrong-headed and silly to believe that anything of any consequence ever happens within the club’s four walls. The Garrick is merely a spot for friendly relaxation.

Continue reading...

Garrick Club votes to accept female members for first time

Posted on by

Members back dropping men-only rule in place for 193 years, after Guardian revealed details of membership list

The men-only Garrick Club has finally voted to allow women to become members, 193 years after the London institution first opened its doors.

The vote was passed with 59.98% of votes in favour at the end of a private meeting where several hundred members spent two hours debating whether to permit women to join.

Continue reading...

Admit women or we quit, Sting and Stephen Fry tell Garrick

Posted on by

In letter ahead of vote, signatories including Mark Knopfler say relations with female colleagues have been damaged

The musicians Sting and Mark Knopfler have co-signed a letter with leading theatre producers and actors, warning that they will be obliged to resign their memberships of the men-only Garrick Club if members refuse to approve a decision to admit women in a vote next Tuesday.

The letter, seen by the Guardian, was also signed by the actor Stephen Fry, the West End and Broadway theatre producer Karl Sydow, and Matthew Byam Shaw, an executive producer on The Crown television series and co-founder of Playful West End theatre production company.

Continue reading...

High court judge removed from case in part due to his Garrick membership

Posted on by

Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear case involving alleged rape victim but second judge ruled he should not hear it

A high court judge has been removed from presiding over a case involving an alleged rape and domestic abuse victim, in part due to his membership of the men-only Garrick Club.

Sir Jonathan Cohen was due to hear a family court case involving a dispute between a separated couple over shared care arrangements for their child, but another high court judge ruled last Thursday that Cohen should not hear the case.

Continue reading...

Garrick edges closer to admitting female members after 193 years of exclusion

Posted on by

Move comes after Guardian revealed names of powerful men among club’s exclusive membership

The men-only Garrick Club has edged closer to admitting female members, after an emergency committee meeting acknowledged that there was nothing in the club rules to prevent them from joining.

The late-night vote on Thursday means that women could finally become members of the club within months, 193 years after the Garrick was founded and following decades of controversy over its discriminatory rules, sources said.

Continue reading...

Garrick Club asked to consider membership for seven leading women

Posted on by

A group of men at the club who hope the male-only rule will change have nominated a set of possible new members

Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.

The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.

Continue reading...

Lawyer who raised ‘boys’ club’ concerns over judgment accused of misconduct

Posted on by

Charlotte Proudman posted tweets critical of ruling by Sir Jonathan Cohen, a Garrick Club member

A barrister is facing disciplinary proceedings for expressing frustration at the “echoes of a boys’ club attitude” that she claims were in a family court judgment that went against her client.

Charlotte Proudman criticised a judgment of Sir Jonathan Cohen – a member of the men-only Garrick Club – over remarks he made in a family case two years ago.

Continue reading...

Lawyers call on judges in Garrick Club to give up membership

Posted on by

Exclusive: Letter with more than 60 signatories says membership ‘perpetuates systemic discrimination against women’

A group of more than 60 lawyers in England and Wales have called on all judges who are members of the men-only Garrick Club to resign from it immediately, claiming membership is “incompatible with the core principles of justice, equality and fairness”.

In an open letter, the barristers, solicitors and legal professionals say they have been concerned by recent reports in the Guardian naming dozens of senior figures in the judiciary as current members of a club that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.

Continue reading...

Andrea Leadsom criticises civil service head’s Garrick Club involvement

Posted on by

Former Tory leadership contender says she would not join men-only club even if it changed rules

A government minister has criticised Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, for having been a member of the men-only Garrick Club and said she wouldn’t join if it began admitting women.

Andrea Leadsom, a junior health minister and former Conservative leadership contender, said she thought it was “extraordinary” that the cabinet secretary had “only just discovered” the club excluded women.

Continue reading...