Calling time? Garrick vote fuels debate over letting women in

Some of Londor’s last all-male private clubs are discussing female membership while also consulting the lawyers

- Amelia Gentleman

Discussions are under way over whether to admit women at several of London's remaining gentlemen's clubs after last week's vote by Garrick Club members to allow women to join after 193 years.

The Travellers Club, the Savile Club, the Beefsteak Club, Boodle's, Buck's, Brooks's, the East India Club and White's are among some of the remaining London clubs that still do not admit female members.

Club secretaries at some of these institutions are understood to have consulted lawyers to see whether their rules are also now vulnerable to reinterpretation in the wake of the Garrick vote, which rested on new legal advice that the pronoun "he" in the club's rulebook should also be taken to mean "she".

A tentative consultation was launched among Savile Club members earlier this year over the possible opening up of the club to female members at some time in the future. Gareth Neame, the executive producer of Downton Abbey, is understood to have resigned both from his role as chair of the Savile last month and as a member as discussions began. He did not disclose why he stepped down.