Carlton Club votes against women

The Carlton Club was founded in 1832

Tory women will continue to be denied full membership of the Carlton Club after the latest bid for equality failed.

A majority of members attending a meeting at the bastion of the Conservative Party in St James's, London, voted in favour of allowing women full membership.

Like Groucho Marx, I would not want to belong to a club that would accept me as a member

Teresa Gorman MP

However, under the club's rules a change to its constitution would need to be supported by two-thirds of those who voted.

The result will be a blow for Tory leader William Hague, who voted to grant women full membership of the elite private members club.

He has long campaigned for equality, saying hard working women who form the backbone of the party should not be excluded from the club, founded in 1832.

'Naturally disappointed'

A Conservative spokeswoman said: "William Hague voted in favour of allowing women in and he is naturally disappointed the proposal did not get the necessary two-thirds majority."

Former Tory prime ministers Baroness Thatcher, John Major and Sir Edward Heath were also said to be in favour of the move.

But the two-thirds majority did not materialise in Wednesday evening's vote.

The vote split 289 to 166 in favour of allowing women members to lose their limited status of "Lady associate" members, according to secretary Alistair Telfer.

The Carlton Club has about 100 "Lady associate" members.

Lady Thatcher is the only woman with full membership. She was made an honorary life member after becoming Conservative leader in 1975.

'Out of touch'

Teresa Gorman, Conservative MP for Billericay, said that even if the vote had gone the other way she would not have joined.

"Like Groucho Marx, I would not want to belong to a club that would accept me as a member."

She added: "These places are so out of touch with the modern world - they go back to the 18th century, never mind the 19th century.

"These poor old ducks seek refuge in them because they can not cope with modern women.

"They shuffle around silently waiting to be snatched by Old Father Time.

"There is still an incredible anti-women attitude which pervades not just these fuddy-duddy old gentlemen's clubs but many other aspects of life as well.

"Someone once said of me in the House of Commons that they were surprised to discover that I had a brain as well as a body. I ask you."