John Simpson: Impossible to keep my Garrick membership if women can’t join

John Simpson said keeping his Garrick Club membership would feel “impossible” if women are not voted in next week.

The veteran BBC journalist added his voice to a chorus of members calling for women to be able to join the exclusive club.

Sting and Stephen Fry were among a group of high-profile members to sign a letter to the club this week warning that they will resign if a vote to admit women is not approved.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Simpson, 79, said:

It comes after the full membership list of the Garrick Club was leaked in March, revealing hundreds of establishment figures in its ranks and prompting renewed fury at its refusal to admit women.

A letter co-signed by musicians Sting and Knopfler, The Crown producer Matthew Byam Shaw, and Fry, among others, has revealed a concern about the reaction to the club’s membership rules.

The cohort of leading producers, actors and musicians penned a letter seen by The Guardian to Christopher Kirker, the Garrick chairman, ahead of the membership vote next Tuesday.

In it, they complain that the recent publicity regarding the club’s men-only rule has put them in an “untenable position” in their respective fields as important relationships with female colleagues have “been jeopardised”.

They said: “We write as Garrick members who produce/co-produce and manage over 35 current productions in the West End and regionally.

“The current very public controversy over this issue has put us all in an untenable position.

“Our relations with female artists, co-producers, authors, cast members, members of our creative teams, backstage and front of house theatre staff have all been jeopardised by the recent publicity to the point that, without serious progress being made to finally address this anomaly, we won’t feel able to continue as Garrick members.”

It acknowledged the intense opposition to changing the rules, stating: “Those who oppose this measure because it will ‘change the club’ will find the club changed beyond recognition to the lasting detriment of its artistic standing.

“Our motto is ‘All the world’s a stage’ but the stage at the Garrick will be empty. We fervently urge you not to let this happen.”

The club was founded in 1831 as a meeting place for actors and gentlemen and named in honour of the 18th-century actor David Garrick. Women are only allowed in if they are invited in by another member and accompanied by a man throughout their visit.

Garrick’s current membership includes several stage and screen performers, including Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Laurie, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Suchet and Damian Lewis.

The leak of its membership intensified the debate around the continued ban on women. Simon Case, the head of the civil service, and MI6 chief Richard Moore quit the men-only club, along with four senior judges, shortly afterwards.

The initial membership leak, first reported in The Guardian, showed members included King Charles, five Court of Appeal judges, eight High Court judges, about 150 KCs, a now-Supreme Court judge, dozens of members of the House of Lords, and 10 MPs.

The King is understood to have a ceremonial membership to the Garrick, rather than having made a formal application to be a member.

Last month, the exclusive club held an emergency committee meeting where they accepted new legal advice from Lord Pannick KC that women are already eligible to join the club based on the rules.

The matter will now pass to an extraordinary general meeting of all 1,500 members due to be held on May 7 on whether or not to approve the committee’s decision that women should now be permitted to be members. A simple majority of more than 50 per cent will be required.

The Garrick Club has been contacted for comment.