London’s 200-year-old Garrick Club finally to allow women members

LONDON: London’s elite Garrick Club voted to allow women to join for the first time since being founded in 1831, responding to growing public pressure to end its archaic all-male setup.

After a vote, female members approved by the Garrick’s admissions process can have a place at one of the British establishment’s top tables: it boasts King Charles as a current member and 19th century author Charles Dickens in the past.

Located in London’s West End theatre-land, the private members club has been criticised this year after a leak revealed its roughly 1,300 members to be a who’s who of politicians, journalists, judges and actors.

While other male-only private clubs still exist in London, the Garrick’s high-profile membership triggered debate about elitism and exclusion of women in British society.

Critics said the club was preventing women from networking like men. One group of lawyers called on judges to quit as membership was “incompatible” with justice and equality.

Some members had resigned recently over the controversy, including Simon Case, Britain’s most senior civil servant, and Richard Moore, head of the MI6 foreign spy service, media said.

Others had pushed for women to be admitted by nominating a handful of prominent women, including classicist Mary Beard and former politician Amber Rudd, to force the vote on the issue.

Women had previously been allowed to enter the Garrick Club as guests of men but were restricted in where they could go and, according to media, had to enter via a side door.

According to media, the vote passed with nearly 60 percent in favour. The Garrick did not immediately comment.