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

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, London, founded in 1870. St Stephen's was originally on the corner of Bridge Street and the Embankment, in London SW1, now the location of

Portcullis House Portcullis House (PCH) is an office building in City of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and their staff. The pu ...

. From 1962 it occupied a building at 34 Queen Anne's Gate, 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 Me ...

and

St James's Park St James's Park is a urban park in the City of Westminster, central London. A Royal Park, it is at the southernmost end of the St James's area, which was named after a once isolated medieval hospital dedicated to St James the Less, now the ...

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

History

Taking its name from St Stephen's Chapel, the original meeting place of the Commons which burned down in 1834, the club was initially connected with Conservative Party Members of Parliament and civil engineers.

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

, 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 Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

, 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 (armed forces), 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 colon ...

E.J. Saunderson from

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

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

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

party - what was to become the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

. 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, 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 statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

, 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 Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...

was the club's president. 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, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

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 retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

as Deputy Prime Minister. Lord McAlpine 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