St Stephen's Club was a private member's club in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

, London, founded in 1870. St Stephen's was originally on the corner of Bridge Street and the

Embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railway ...

, in London SW1, now the location of Portcullis House. From 1962 it occupied a building at 34

Queen Anne's Gate Queen Anne’s Gate is a street in Westminster, London. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, known for their Queen Anne architecture. Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner described the Gate’s early 18th century houses as “the best of th ...

, overlooking

Birdcage Walk Birdcage Walk is a street in the City of Westminster in London. It runs east–west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, with the Treasury building and the Institution of Mecha ...

and

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...

. According to Charles Dickens Jr., writing in 1879:

History

Taking its name from St Stephen's Chapel, the original meeting place of the Commons, the club was initially connected with Conservative Party Members of Parliament and civil engineers. Benjamin Disraeli, twice

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

, was among the founding fathers. On 14 January 1886, six Irish Conservative MPs, led by

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

E.J. Saunderson from

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

, met at the St. Stephen's Club to form a distinct Parliamentary

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

party - what was to become the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule ...

. The original premises were sold to the government in the early 1960s and the club moved to 34 Queen Anne's Gate, the former private house of

Lord Glenconner Baron Glenconner, of The Glen, Scottish Borders, The Glen in the Peeblesshire, County of Peebles, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1911 for Edward Tennant, 1st Baron Glenconner, Sir Edward Tennant, 2nd Baronet, w ...

, in 1962. The club was reopened at Queen Anne's Gate by

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as " Supermac", ...

, then prime minister. Traditionally the

Chairman of the Conservative Party The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office. When the Conservatives are in government, the offi ...

was the club's president. David Cameron St Stephen's Club 2

The club closed as a proprietary membership club and was acquired in January 2003 by James Wilson and Myra Jauncey. It became officially apolitical and operated as a private members' luncheon club and venue for evening functions. However, it retained an unofficial connection with the Conservative Party. Notably, on 7 May 2010,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

chose the club as the venue to make the "big offer" to the Liberal Democrats for a coalition government which resulted in the coalition government under the leadership of David Cameron as Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepre ...

as Deputy Prime Minister.

Lord McAlpine Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronet ...

kept his London wine collection in the cellar. On 2 January 2013 the club closed due to lack of members and soaring running costs having struggled to attract new members due to the economic climate and changing attitudes to London Clubs.

References

External links

Club home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephen's Club 1870 establishments in England Gentlemen's clubs in London Organizations established in 1870

History

See also

References

External links