Garrick Club membership revealed for first time – with the King among ranks

The full membership list of the Garrick Club, which reveals the King to be among hundreds of establishment figures in its ranks, has been leaked, prompting renewed fury at its refusal to admit women.

Leaked documents show other members include Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, and Richard Moore, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).

The chief executive of the Royal Opera House is also a member, alongside Simon Case, who as cabinet secretary is the Prime Minister’s most senior policy adviser, and the actor Brian Cox and Matthew Macfadyen, his Succession co-star .

It is the first time the membership of the Garrick has been made public, shining the spotlight on senior British establishment figures who are members of a club that has repeatedly blocked moves to admit women.

The leak has intensified the debate around the continued ban on women, particularly given that its membership list includes many senior figures in the judiciary, including a Supreme Court judge, five Court of Appeal judges, eight High Court judges, about 150 KCs, dozens of members of the House of Lords and 10 MPs.

The King is understood to have a ceremonial membership to the Garrick, rather than having made a formal application to be a member.

His association to the Garrick is understood to date back to when the monarch was the Prince of Wales.

“It’s more of a ceremonial membership, it’s not like he ever goes there,” a source close to the palace said, before adding that the same membership would not have been extended to the late Queen, given the club rules.

‘If you can’t admit women, then you shouldn’t be a member’

Harriet Harman, the Labour MP who drafted the Equality Act 2010, said politicians and senior civil servants should not be members of clubs that prohibit women.

“Equality for women is a recognised public policy objective and all those in public life should be committed to that objective. These clubs prop up structures that restrict women’s access to power,” she told the Guardian, which published the list on Monday, adding: “It’s not good enough to say that you are hoping women will be able to join in the future. If you can’t admit women, then you shouldn’t be a member.”

Caroline Nokes, a Conservative MP and chairman of the women and equalities committee, said: “It’s wrong in today’s society to have places that are still so pivotal to the establishment that exclude 51 per cent of the population.”

The full list reveals many people currently in influential roles – from Whitehall leaders to partners at “magic circle” law firms and heads of consultancies – and its publication has prompted anger from campaigners for increased diversity in the arts, business, politics and the law.

An analysis of the membership list shows the club’s profile to be overwhelmingly white and predominantly elderly.

The club was founded in 1831 as a meeting place for actors and gentlemen and named in honour of the 18th-century actor David Garrick. Its current membership includes several stage and screen performers, including Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Suchet and Damian Lewis.

Christopher Rodrigues, the chairman of the Royal Ballet school, John Gilhooly, the artistic director of Wigmore Hall, and Harry Brünjes, the chairman of the English National Opera, are also members, alongside Alex Beard, the chief executive of the Royal Opera House.

‘Change from within rather than chuck rocks from the outside’

Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, defended his membership of the Garrick Club as he said he had joined in order to “make reform happen” at the institution.

Mr Case was asked by Labour MP Liam Byrne whether he was able to “foster a genuine culture of inclusiveness” in Government while a member of the all-male members’ club.

The Cabinet Secretary told a cross-party committee of MPs: “I have to say my position on this one is also clear, if you believe profoundly in reform of an institution, by and large, it’s easier to do if you join it to make the change from within rather than chuck rocks from the outside.”

He added: “And by the way, maths is also part of this - every one person who leaves who is in favour of fixing this antediluvian position, every one of us that leaves means these institutions don’t change. I think when you want reform, you have to participate.”

Mr Case said that he was “sure” he was speaking on the behalf of “all the public servants who have recently joined the Garrick under the banner of trying to make reform happen.”

Another vote on women members expected in June

The last time the club had a formal vote on admitting women was in 2015, when 50.5 per cent supported a rule change to allow female members. The motion failed because a two-thirds majority was required. Another vote is expected in June.

Jude Kelly, a theatre director and founder of the Women of the World Foundation, said she was so angry about the club’s refusal to admit women that she had considered staging a sit-down protest outside the club’s 1864 grey stone building in Covent Garden.

Most of the actors who are members are thought to be in favour of a rule change.

Fry has said previously he feels “ashamed and mortified by the continuing exclusion of women from our club”. Bonneville and Lewis are understood to have voted in favour of women in 2015, and Cox, a member since 1996, said it was “about time” women were admitted.

“This archaic practice is ridiculous in the 21st century,” the Succession actor said.

Also members are Roy Hodgson, the former England manager; Nigel Newton, the chief executive and founder of the Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury; Paul Smith, the fashion designer; Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits vocalist and guitarist; Peter Straus, the literary agent; and the hotel magnate Rocco Forte.