Male-only Garrick club 'to welcome first female members including ex-Home ... trends now
The male-only Garrick Club could welcome the first female members in its 193-year history, with former Home Secretary Amber Rudd's name reportedly on a list of potential candidates.
The £1,700-a-year club has long been at the centre of controversy over its all-male membership, and now it appears that a host of members including actor Stephen Fry are calling for women to be permitted to join.
According to broadcaster Emily Maitlis, who claimed on X that she had seen a formal letter proposing the candidates, club trustees have written to the chairman requesting that women 'will be considered on the same basis as men'.
They reportedly informed the chair that the female candidates' forms are being 'prepared and signed as soon as possible', and also asked for confirmation 'that they are eligible for membership.'
Eminent women reportedly being recommended for the club include actor Juliet Stevenson, classicist Dame Mary Beard, broadcaster Baroness Ayesha Hazarika, and Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman.
The £1,700-a-year club has attracted controversy over its all-male membership
Former Home Secretary Amber Rudd's name is reportedly on a list of potential candidates
Classicist and TV historian Mary Beard is among those reportedly being recommended for membership
Former Newsnight presenter Maitlis said that the letter 'comes ahead of a crucial club meeting April 4 - which will bring this matter to a head.'
Maitlis co-hosts current affairs podcast the News Agents along with fellow former BBC journalist Jon Sopel, the corporations's former North America Editor.
Sopel, recently became a member of the Garrick himself following a lengthy wait, joining former BBC colleague Jeremy Paxman in its
