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The Other Club

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The Other Clubis a British politicaldining societyfounded in 1911 byWinston ChurchillandF. E. Smith.[1]It met to dine fortnightly in the Pinafore Room at theSavoy Hotelduring periods whenParliamentwas in session.[2]The club's members over the years have included many leading British political and non-political men.

History

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Churchill, who in 1910 wasLiberalHome Secretary,and barrister andConservativeMP F. E. Smith had not been invited to join the venerable political dining club known just asThe Club.Although both had friends in it, the members thought Churchill and Smith too controversial. So they established their own club, to be called by contrast "The Other Club".

The initial membership was 12 Liberals, 12 Conservatives, and 12 "distinguished outsiders" who were not in politics. With the help ofDavid Lloyd George(thenChancellor of the Exchequer) another non-member of The Club, they put together such a list and the first dinner was on 18 May 1911. TheChief Whipsof the two parties were co-secretaries of the club, so thatpairscould be arranged, meaning members' dinner would not be interrupted bydivisionsin the parliament.

Twelve rules were written for the club, mostly by F. E. Smith, and they were, and are still, read aloud at each dinner. Churchill claimed to have contributed the last:12. Nothing in the rules or intercourse of the Club shall interfere with the rancour or asperity of party politics,[3]although the so-called Birkenhead school ascribes this to Smith. In any case debate was vigorous, and Churchill insisted on attending even at the height of theBlitzin 1940/41.

Election to the club depended on Smith and Churchill believing members to be "men with whom it was agreeable to dine". After Smith's death in 1930, Churchill became practically the sole arbiter and election was the greatest honour he could confer on those he considered both estimable and entertaining. Both those characteristics were required, so that many he considered estimable, but not entertaining, were not elected. That includedLord Woolton,Clement Attlee,John AndersonandLord Halifax.[4]

Anthony Edenwas invited to join, but declined since he disliked dining clubs.[citation needed]Charles Wilson,created Lord Moran, was Churchill's physician for many years and in the late 1950s asked outright to be elected. This was surprisingly forthright, and Churchill felt that he couldn't hurt the doctor's feelings by refusing. After Churchill's death, Moran published a controversial bookWinston Churchill, the Struggle for Survivalwhich offended Churchill's friends for discussing matters normally confidential between a doctor and patient. The members of the club thus asked him to resign, though he himself saw no reason to do so.[citation needed]Churchill metAristotle Onassisin the south of France and became such friends as to elect him to the club, to the astonishment of other members.[citation needed]

The club continued after Churchill's death, but there has been no executive committee since 1970.

Members

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The membership over the years, asJohn Colvilleput it, reads like an index tocontemporary British history.In 1997The Timespublished a list of people whose names appeared on the club's January 1994 List of Members.[5]These were (joining dates in parentheses):

Other past members have included:

Sources

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  • John Colville,The Churchillians,1981,ISBN0-297-77909-5,chapter 1.
  • Derek Wilson, "Dark and Light", Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1998,ISBN0-297-81718-3,p. 227.

Notes

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  1. ^Billington, Rachel (15 May 2006). "Book Reviews: Going from summer to shadows".Evening Standard.p. 34.
  2. ^"The Savoy London Meeting Rooms and Banquet Halls".Fairmontmeetings.com. 20 April 2007.Retrieved4 December2011.
  3. ^Rules of The Other ClubArchived2 April 2012 at theWayback MachineatThe Churchill Centre
  4. ^"Cover Story: The Friendship Between Churchill and F.E. Smith".Archived fromthe originalon 31 July 2013.Retrieved21 July2013.
  5. ^Lloyd, John (29 July 1997). "Secret members of the Other Club".The Times.p. 13.
  6. ^R. Skidelsky, Oswald Mosley (Papermacs, 1981), p. 236

Further reading

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