Men-only Garrick Cub votes to allow women to become members
The men-only Garrick Club voted tonight to allow women to become members for the first time in the prestigious institutions 193 year history.
The landmark decision comes after celebrity figures such as Stephen Fry and Sting threatened to quit the London-based club unless members pledged to allow women into the male-only space.
Broadcaster John Simpson also said that he and many others ‘would also find it impossible to say’ if doors were not opened to the opposite gender.
The Garrick’s 1,300 members, who include, King Charles , deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden and actor Hugh Bonneville, sat down to vote at the special general meeting this evening.
The vote, which asked members to confirm a ‘that the rules of the club allow the admission of women members’, was passed with 60 per cent in favour, after hundreds of members spent two hours debating the benefits of allowing women to join.
The men-only Garrick Club voted tonight to allow women to become members for the first time in the prestigious institutions 193 year history
The landmark decision comes after celebrity figures such as Stephen Fry and Sting threatened to quit the London-based club unless members pledged to allow women into the previously male-only space
The Garrick’s 1,300 members, who include, King Charles , Sting (pictured), deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden and actor Hugh Bonneville , sat down to vote at the special general meeting this evening
The meeting was closed to non-members with a warning reportedly being issue by the club’s secretary before the vote who explained the matter was confidential and should not be discussed outside of the club.
The men, many of whom were wearing the club’s pink and green striped tie according to the Guardian, gathered in the Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden to cast their votes.
It comes after a series of high-profile members – including theatre, film and television producers – last week signed a document which warned members were in an untenable position because of the ‘very public controversy’ over the sexism row.
The letter to chairman Christopher Kirker was signed by theatre producer Karl Sydow and Matthew Byam Shaw, an executive on Netflix’s The Crown.
It said: ‘The current very public controversy over this issue has put us all in an untenable position.
‘Our relations with female artists, co-producers, authors, cast members, members of our creative teams, backstage and front of house theatre staff have all been jeopardised by the recent publicity to the point that, without serious progress being made to finally address this anomaly, we won’t feel able to continue as Garrick members.’
In March a letter was written to the £1,700-a-year club calling for a number of high flying women to be permitted to join.
Eminent women reportedly recommended for the club include actor Juliet Stevenson, classicist Dame Mary Beard, broadcaster Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, and Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman.
The blazing row, and calls for women’s entry to the club, came after an all-male list of members was publicly leaked. It also showed that the majority of members were over 50 and overwhelmingly white.
Women hold banners during a protest for equality at the entrance to the Garrick Club in London in March
A group of prominent female lawyers staged a protest on the steps of the central London club
Top civil servant Simon Case and MI6 boss Sir Richard Moore resigned from the club after their names were published on a leaked list of members.
The civil servants’ involvement in the club was critcised for making a mockery of their efforts to make their institutions more inclusive.
At least four judges were also said to have resigned in the aftermath which saw intense public scrutiny.
Others criticised, however, the men for leaving the institution following the outrage, with one member felt it showed a lack of ‘backbone’ to be ‘bullied by the thought police’ into quitting.
Former minister Ben Wallace defended senior male politicians and civil servants who are members of the club, saying they should be ‘left alone’.
It led to an outcry from feminists, with a group of prominent female lawyers staged a protest on the steps of the central London club in March.
Feminist barristers Charlotte Proudman and Julia Needham, as well as Labour MP Apsana Begum were among those who organized and signed an open letter calling on the club to improve its diversity.
‘For too long, the Garrick Club has stood as a symbol of exclusivity, a bastion of power maintained by the privileged few — predominantly white men who hold sway over the decisions affecting our society, our political system, our justice system, our media, and arts and culture,’ the letter said.
The elite club, which counts the King among its members, is one of the oldest in Britain
Prior to tonight’s historical vote, the institution, which is one of the oldest in Britain, repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.
In 2011, Joanna Lumley tried unsuccessfully to become the first female member when she was proposed by Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville.
The Garrick was founded in Covent Garden in 1831 as an organisation for actors, theatre patrons and ‘men of refinement’.
Until now, women were allowed in only if they are invited by a member and accompanied by a man throughout their visit.
Several high-profile members quit earlier this year including the head of the civil service, Simon Case.
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