The Other Club
Encyclopedia
The Other Club is a British political dining society founded in 1911 by Winston Churchill
and F. E. Smith
. It meets to dine fortnightly while parliament
is in session. Its members over the years have included many leading British political and non-political people.
Churchill, who in 1910 was Liberal
Home Secretary
, and barrister and Conservative
MP F. E. Smith had not been invited to join the venerable political dining club known just as The 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 of David Lloyd George
(then Chancellor of the Exchequer
) another non-member of The Club, they put together such a list and the first dinner was on 18 May 1911. The Chief Whip
s of the two parties were co-secretaries of the club, so that pairs
could be arranged, meaning members dinner would not be interrupted by division
s in 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 said he had contributed the last,
The so-called Birkenhead school ascribes this to Smith. In any case debate was indeed vigorous, and Churchill insisted on attending even at the height of The Blitz
in 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 included Lord Woolton, Clement Attlee
, John Anderson
and Lord Halifax.
Anthony Eden
was invited to join, but declined since he disliked dining clubs.
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 couldn't hurt his feelings by refusing. After Churchill's death, Moran published a controversial book Winston Churchill, the Struggle for Survival which 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.
Churchill met Aristotle Onassis
in the South of France and became such friends as to elect him to the club, to the astonishment of other members.
The club continued after Churchill's death, but there has been no Executive Committee since 1970.
put it, reads like an index to contemporary English history. They included,
(This list is incomplete.)
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and F. E. Smith
F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead
Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead GCSI, PC, KC , best known to history as F. E. Smith , was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living...
. It meets to dine fortnightly while parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
is in session. Its members over the years have included many leading British political and non-political people.
Churchill, who in 1910 was Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, and barrister and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP F. E. Smith had not been invited to join the venerable political dining club known just as The Club
The Club (dining club)
The Club was a London dining club founded in February 1764 by the artist Joshua Reynolds and essayist Samuel Johnson.-Description:Initially, the club would meet one evening per week at seven, at the Turk's Head Inn in Gerrard Street, Soho. Later, meetings were reduced to once per fortnight whilst...
. 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 of David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
(then Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
) another non-member of The Club, they put together such a list and the first dinner was on 18 May 1911. The Chief Whip
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...
s of the two parties were co-secretaries of the club, so that pairs
Pair (parliamentary convention)
Pairing is a system whereby two members of parliament from opposing political parties may agree to abstain where one member is unable to vote, due to other commitments, illness, travel problems, etc...
could be arranged, meaning members dinner would not be interrupted by division
Division (vote)
In parliamentary procedure, a division of the assembly is a voting method in which the members of the assembly take a rising vote or go to different parts of the chamber, literally dividing into groups indicating a vote in favour of or in opposition to a motion on the floor...
s in 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 said he had contributed the last,
- 12. Nothing in the rules or intercourse of the Club shall interfere with the rancour or asperity of party politics.
The so-called Birkenhead school ascribes this to Smith. In any case debate was indeed vigorous, and Churchill insisted on attending even at the height of The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
in 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 included Lord Woolton, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, John Anderson
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley
John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC, PC was a British civil servant then politician who served as a minister under Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill as Home Secretary, Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Exchequer...
and Lord Halifax.
Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
was invited to join, but declined since he disliked dining clubs.
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 couldn't hurt his feelings by refusing. After Churchill's death, Moran published a controversial book Winston Churchill, the Struggle for Survival which 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.
Churchill met Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
in the South of France and became such friends as to elect him to the club, to the astonishment of other members.
The club continued after Churchill's death, but there has been no Executive Committee since 1970.
Members
The members over the years, as John ColvilleJohn Colville
John Colville may refer to:*John Colville , Commissioner to the Scots Parliament for Stirling, clergyman, judge, spy, outlaw and writer*John Colville , English civil servant and diarist...
put it, reads like an index to contemporary English history. They included,
(This list is incomplete.)
- F.E. Smith
- Lord Kitchener
- Lord JellicoeJohn Jellicoe, 1st Earl JellicoeAdmiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
- Lord TrenchardHugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount TrenchardMarshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...
- Lord AlexanderHarold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of TunisField Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars and, afterwards, as Governor General of Canada, the 17th since Canadian...
- Lord Montgomery
- Lord GortJohn Vereker, 6th Viscount GortField Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC, GCB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MVO, MC , was a British and Anglo-Irish soldier. As a young officer in World War I he won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the...
- Lord AlanbrookeAlan Brooke, 1st Viscount AlanbrookeField Marshal The Rt. Hon. Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar , was a senior commander in the British Army. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1944...
- Charles PortalCharles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of HungerfordMarshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford KG GCB OM DSO & Bar MC was a senior Royal Air Force officer and an advocate of strategic bombing...
- Lord Moyne
- H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
- Arnold BennettArnold Bennett- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
- A. E. W. Mason
- P. G. WodehouseP. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
- Brendan Bracken
- Walter Elliot
- William OrpenWilliam OrpenMajor Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA was an Irish portrait painter, who worked mainly in London...
- Alfred MunningsAlfred MunningsSir Alfred James Munnings KCVO, PRA was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken enemy of Modernism...
- John LaveryJohn LaverySir John Lavery was an Irish painter best known for his portraits.Belfast-born John Lavery attended the Haldane Academy, in Glasgow, in the 1870s and the Académie Julian in Paris in the early 1880s. He returned to Glasgow and was associated with the Glasgow School...
- Edwin LutyensEdwin LutyensSir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
- Bob BoothbyRobert BoothbyRobert John Graham Boothby, Baron Boothby, KBE was a controversial British Conservative politician.-Early life:...
- Herbert Beerbohm TreeHerbert Beerbohm TreeSir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
- Lawrence Olivier
- Lewis DouglasLewis Williams DouglasLewis Williams Douglas was an American politician, diplomat, businessman and academic.-Early life and education:...
- Duff CooperDuff CooperAlfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich GCMG, DSO, PC , known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician, diplomat and author. He wrote six books, including an autobiography, Old Men Forget, and a biography of Talleyrand...
- Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
- Jan SmutsJan SmutsJan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948...
- Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
- R. B. BennettR. B. BennettRichard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...
- Lord CamroseWilliam Berry, 1st Viscount CamroseWilliam Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose was a British newspaper publisher.The second of three brothers born in Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, Berry started his working life as a journalist and established his own paper, Advertising World, in 1901...
- Lord BeaverbrookMax Aitken, 1st Baron BeaverbrookWilliam Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
- Lord RothermereViscount RothermereViscount Rothermere, of Hemsted in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for the press lord Harold Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth. He had already been created a Baronet, of Horsey in the County of Norfolk, on 14 July 1910, and Baron...
- Edward Marsh
- Leslie Rowan
- Harcourt JohnstoneHarcourt JohnstoneHarcourt 'Crinks' Johnstone was a British Liberal Party politician.-Early Life & Education:Johnstone was born in London in 1895, the son of the Hon. Sir Alan Johnstone, a British diplomat, and his American wife Antoinette Pinchot. His nickname 'Crinks' is alleged to have derived from the wrinkled...
- Lord Normanbrook
- Aristotle OnassisAristotle OnassisAristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
- Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
Further reading
- The Other Club, Colin CooteColin CooteSir Colin Reith Coote DSO was a British journalist and Liberal politician. For fourteen years he was the editor of the Daily Telegraph.-Biography:...
, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971. (Quite rare.)