The Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London. It was founded in 1832, by Tory Peers, MPs and gentlemen, as a place to coordinate Party activity. It later played a role in the transformation of the Tory party into its modern form as the Conservative Party. The Club lost its role as a central party office with the widening of the vote in the late 1860s.

Many Conservative MPs have been members, and it was most famous for the 'Carlton Club meeting' of 19 October 1922, in which backbench Conservative MPs decided to overthrow their leader Austen Chamberlain and withdraw from the David Lloyd George–led coalition. MPs voted 185 to 85 in favour of discontinuing the Coalition, after speeches from Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin who said that the fact Lloyd George was a 'dynamic force' was a dangerous thing.

The club was formed at the Thatched House Tavern in 1832 and its first proper premises were in Carlton Terrace, provided by Lord Kensington. These premises quickly became too small. The second club house, situated in Pall Mall, London, was purpose built in 1835. However it was bombed in World War II, and so the Club moved to its current premises, 69 St James's Street, London SW1, formerly the premises of Arthurs' Club, which had fallen on hard times. The current clubhouse is architecturally important and includes two elegant dining rooms together with a stunning collection of political portraits and paintings dating back to the 18th century.

In 1977 the Junior Carlton Club merged with the Carlton Club.

At 8:39 p.m. on June 25, 1990, the Carlton Club was bombed, [1] allegedly by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), injuring the porter.

Only men may become full members after being proposed and seconded by a number of current members. Ladies may become associate members, paying a lower subscription but entitled to use only some of the facilities. Female Prime Ministers (such as Margaret Thatcher), as Honorary members, have full run of the club for life . A related Ladies Carlton Club used to exist, but is now defunct.

The leader of the Conservative Party is invited to become an honorary member. Neither Iain Duncan Smith nor David Cameron accepted. David Cameron allegedly refuses membership of a club which does not offer full membership to ladies despite being a member of White's Club which offers no class of membership to ladies.

See also

• List of London's gentlemen's clubs

External links

• Official site
• Architectural description and plans - from the Survey of London online

Coordinates: 51°30′23″N, 0°08′23″W

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