Seven leading women are nominated to become Garrick's first female members

Seven women with leading positions in the British establishment have been nominated as prospective female members of the Garrick in the event that the club agrees to change its rules so that women are able to join.

- Amelia Gentleman

The classicist Mary Beard, the former home secretary Amber Rudd, the Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman and the new Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika are among the first names to have been put forward to the club as possible future members.

Also on the list of proposed new members are the actor Juliet Stevenson, the chair of the trustees of Shakespeare's Globe and chancellor of Coventry University Margaret Casely-Hayford and Elizabeth Gloster, formerly a court of appeal judge.

A group of Garrick members who hope the rules on women members will change have tentatively proposed these names to the club's administration seeking confirmation that they would in theory be eligible for admission to the club.

Stephen Fry, the broadcaster Matt Frei and the opera singer Ian Bostridge were among the signatories proposing the women as potential future members. After securing confirmation from the women that they were happy in principle to be put up as club members, the proposers sent their names to the Garrick chair on Wednesday, asking for guidance on how to proceed.