The Other Club

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The The Other Club ( the other club ) is a British political club, which in 1911 by Winston Churchill and FE Smith was founded, later Earl of Birkenhead. The club was set up as a political dining society , that is to say as a forum for important figures in British political life to discuss current issues and problems over dinner. The club meets fortnightly during the session of parliament .

Churchill, British Home Secretary in 1910, and Smith, an important politician of the Conservative opposition in the British House of Commons, were controversial figures on the political scene at the end of Edwardian times and were not invited to join the club, briefly and confidently dubbed The Club , the traditional dinner party for British leaders Politicians to join - although he had many friends of Churchill and Smith in his ranks. In response to this non-invitation, the two of them founded their own club, which, in contrast to the established club, they called ' The Other Club '. Its first meeting took place on May 18, 1911.

In its original formation, the club consisted of 12 liberal members of parliament, 12 conservative members of parliament and 12 " distinguished outsiders ", i. e. Non-parliamentarians or non-professional politicians. As deputy secretaries of the club, the whips of the two major parties could be won, so that the parliamentarians were able to appear even during late meetings by agreeing on mutual waiver of votes. For a long time it was a prerequisite for admission to the club to be seen by Churchill and / or Birkenhead as a man "with whom dining with turns out to be a pleasant experience". The condition for admission was to be both a man of character and a good partner ( entertaining ). Whoever Churchill or Birkenhead - who at that time were generally regarded as entertainers at a table party par excellence - refused to accept the latter quality was excluded from membership: Clement Attlee , John Anderson and Lord Halifax , among others , had to forego admission to the club. The club's charter includes 11 rules established by Smith and one by Churchill, which are read aloud at each meeting of the members of the assembled table as a reminder or guide for newly admitted members. The last rule is that the intercourse of club members at their dinners should not be affected by the dissent and aspirations of party politics. Churchill's last public appearance before his death in January 1965 was at a club dinner in December 1964. The members of the club are usually not known as such to the public, at least during their lifetime. Except for Margaret Thatcher (because she is a woman), all British Prime Ministers since Churchill have been members of the Other Club . As is common in British clubs, the Other Club also has some bizarre customs. For example, B. at irregular intervals a large, black, carved wooden cat at dinner. She receives the complete menu, a port wine and a glass of water. The reason: She is the 14th diner when only 13 gentlemen have appeared for dinner.

Members of the club

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Boris Johnson MP (past staff) - Register of interests. Retrieved October 4, 2015, October 8, 2019 (UK English).