Membership
Many Conservative politicians have been members. The leader of the Conservative Party is invited to become an honorary member. Iain Duncan Smith refused membership when it was offered to him.
Traditionally, only men could become full members after being proposed and seconded by a number of current members. From the 1970s onwards, women were allowed to become associate members, meaning they were unable to vote. Since becoming Conservative leader in 1975, Lady Thatcher has been an honorary member of the club and as such, until 2008 was the only female member entitled to full membership.
David Cameron accepted honorary membership of the club as of 22 May 2008. Lady Thatcher was elected as the club's second president (the first was Harold Macmillan) on May 2009.
An entirely separate, unrelated Ladies' Carlton Club was established after the First World War as a social and political centre for women Conservatives. It closed in 1958.
The current chairman is The Right Honourable Lord Freeman. A full history of the club was published to mark its 175th anniversary in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Carlton Club
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
“The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don’t acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)