A look behind the scenes at the secret “dining club that offers more than just food” – Byline Times

Since White’s was founded in the 17th century – it is considered the oldest gentlemen’s club in London – this exclusive club district has served as a haven for the rich and powerful for centuries.

From celebrities and royals wanting to avoid the paparazzi, to politicians who preferred to conduct their business outside the House of Commons and away from the gaze of prying journalists, these places have played a key role in providing a haven for the elite.

Some members of this network – such as the Carlton Club or United and Cecil – have explicit political goals and are a central part of the Conservatives’ fundraising ecosystem. Here, donors can buy access to politicians for a membership fee, or young, hopeful MPs can establish contacts with party bigwigs.

EXCLUSIVE

The Prime Minister’s penchant for air travel dwarfs that of his predecessors, runs counter to the Government’s net zero pledges and comes just days after his disgraceful D-Day swerve.

Martin George

Many of these donor dining clubs, registered as “unincorporated societies”, donate exclusively to the Conservatives and are often linked to individuals who oversee the internal fundraising of the party’s election campaign machine. They donate generously to marginal constituencies with the express intention of improving the party’s prospects in certain areas. This relationship has existed for more than 100 years in some cases.

One of these organisations, the 1900 Club, has emerged as a significant force in the past year after a period of inactivity since 2017, donating £77,000 to the Conservatives, £25,000 of which was distributed in early 2023 and allocated to nine contested seats.

There is very little information about the 1900 Club, but a recently discovered brochure that Byline Timessheds light on the history of this opaque organization, its purpose and its long-standing relationship with the Conservatives.

The 1986 document was written by Ronald Warlow, vice-chairman and a member of the club for 54 years (who stood as a Conservative against Labour MP Henry White in the 1945 North East Derbyshire general election) in response to the then ’emerging Tory generation’ lacking a clear understanding of the club’s purpose. It is an instructive short story for aspiring young Conservatives.

The Prime Minister accused Keir Starmer of wanting to “change the rules so that they stay in power for a very long time”, even though the Conservatives have made a long list of electoral changes designed to keep them in office.

Adam Bienkov

The document describes the club as the successor to earlier membership collectives that had been formed out of common goals: the October Club, the Halsbury Club and the Carlton. The 1900 Club is cryptically described by Warlow as a “dining club that does more than just dine”.

The pamphlet details how, just before the closing of the last session of Parliament in 1906, a group of Conservatives decided to meet regularly and dine together in the company of friends. The condition was that they were either sitting Conservative MPs or peers in the 1900 Parliament, or potential Conservative parliamentary candidates for 1906.

The opening dinner took place on June 25, 1906 at the Savoy Hotel in London.

The pamphlet describes early efforts to influence the outcome of elections in certain constituencies. It explains that “in the first two by-elections, in Cockermouth and Bodmin, the Unionist candidate was successful and the support of the club certainly contributed to these and later successes”. It goes on to say that the club “soon proved to be a political force of considerable influence”.

“From the beginning,Warlow continued: “The club received much kindness from the committee of the Carlton Club.” The booklet describes dinners between the two members and how the lavish biennial gatherings brought together 1,900 club members with important guests and ran up an exorbitant bill – one such celebration cost £4,000 in 1907 (according to Officialdata.org that would be worth more than £616,000 today).

After a time, the overlap in membership between The Carlton and The 1900 Club led to monthly dinners being held at the Carlton for members of the newer club. It was around this time that the club began to develop links with the larger network of institutions that created easy routes to power.

The Conservative manifesto could be on an exam paper in 30 years’ time, but voters desperate for change are unlikely to notice it.

Josiah Mortimer

Warlow explained: “Sometime around 1908 the club moved its premises to 5 Pickering Place (a quiet cul-de-sac behind Lock’s in St James’s). We learn from club records that membership was extended at about this time to include students from Oxford and Cambridge, and colonial prime ministers. The club thus expanded and became an extremely popular meeting place for Conservatives, both in and out of Parliament.”

This approach was later expanded to include inviting ex-ministers and “other prominent Union politicians to events to discuss with club members” – a practice that continues to this day. “All Tory MPs could become members,” the brochure states.

Its governing body included prime ministers and senior politicians, including Arthur Balfour, Joseph Chamberlain, Walter Long and, more recently, Margaret Thatcher (chairman of the club and prime minister at the time of writing).

The 1900 Club is described as being “active” between the two World Wars. Speakers included ministers, prominent Conservatives and other notables, with the chairman usually assuring the speaker that “what he said was confidential and would not be broken outside the Club’s premises”.

The club was used by Winston Churchill, who used the welcoming membership to “campaign with clarity and force against the British Government on the India Bill and the policy of appeasement”. Guests at his events included such figures as Sir Archibald Boyd-Carpenter, Alan Lennox-Boyd, Guy Kindersley, Eric Long and the Duchess of Atholl.

In the notes of a 1946 meeting to discuss the future of the club, a leaflet details how dozens of members who stood for election ultimately won the election. It states: “At the General Election in February 1950, no fewer than 54 of the 318 members (of whom 38 were peers and thus ineligible for the House of Commons) stood as Conservative candidates and of these 44 were elected.”

And it describes how the 1900 Club began to attract young Conservative members during the post-war Labour governments. As early as 1976, the young Thatcher was the guest of honour at its annual dinner.

The document concludes by describing how the 1900 Club is revitalised and determined to achieve its core objectives, which can be helpfully summarised as follows:

1. To provide members of the Conservative Party with an opportunity for social and political exchange.
2. Conducting meetings to gather the views of prominent politicians and discuss current political issues.
3. To promote and generally pursue the interests of the Conservative Party.

“The committee is preparing plans,” it says, “to become a more effective political force, for example in elections.”

The circle of gourmet clubs is a conservative phenomenon, even though most major parties are supported in various forms by unregistered associations.

Research by the Good Law Project has found that £5.3 million has been donated by UAs since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, with the lion’s share going to the Conservatives.

More from our VoteWatch24 coverage

Unregistered associations are companies founded by two or more people that are lightly regulated and the information about individual donors remains anonymous. This makes it possible for associations to act as intermediaries for unauthorized donors.

While UAs can be eligible donors, those who give them money do not have to be. And while political parties must report donations to the Electoral Commission, UAs do not have to register with the Commission to report a donation at all – unless they donate £37,500 in a single payment or spread over a calendar year.

Rose Whiffen, senior research officer at Transparency International, said Byline Times: “Unincorporated clubs, particularly those that double as dining halls, are shrouded in secrecy. There is little detail about who funds them, and we know that some offer donors the opportunity to meet senior politicians behind closed doors. The continued secrecy of these donor clubs underscores the urgent need for substantive reform of political funding.”

The 1900 Club still meets with senior politicians and holds annual lectures for various groups within the Conservative camp. It is also linked to the Tufton Street think tanks.

At an event in 2017, Conservative Robert Halfon, then chair of the Education Select Committee, addressed members on “The Future of Conservatism”, hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies.

The club’s chairman is Conservative peer and former shadow finance minister Baron Howard Flight, who sat on the advisory boards of the Centre for Policy Studies and the Institute for Economic Affairs until April 17 this year. The club’s registered address, 6 Barton Street, London, belongs to Flight and his wife Lady Christabel.

Halfon told the club: “I am here not only because of my long friendship with Howard Flight – he is even a supporter of the Harlow Conservatives – but because I feel I am among friends.”

Baron Howard Flight did not respond to a request for comment.