Garrick membership's opposition to women finally joining the club fades

The slow-moving campaign to force one of London's last remaining gentlemen's clubs to admit women has notched a partial victory with an internal poll revealing a majority of members of the Garrick are in favour of dropping the men-only rule.

- Amelia Gentleman

This is the second significant development in a year in the remarkably languid battle for gender equality at the club, which counts among its members the former supreme court judges Lord Neuberger and Lord Sumption, the actors Hugh Bonneville and Stephen Fry, and Michael Gove, a cabinet minister.

Earlier this year, members learned that a senior barrister had updated his advice from when he previously told the club in 2011 that its rules prohibited the admission of female members. Michael Beloff KC later gave the club revised legal advice concluding there was no justification for excluding women.

In a postal vote, organised to canvass members' views after the changed legal advice, 51% of those members who participated indicated they were in favour of admitting women, while 44% were opposed. In total 76% of the club's membership took part in the ballot; 53 people (4%) said they were undecided.