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{{Short description|Gentlemen's club in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Conservative Club - later the Bath Club.JPG|thumb|74 St James Street]]
'''The Conservative Club''' was a [[London]] [[gentlemen's club]], now dissolved, which was established in 1840. In 1950 it merged with the [[Bath Club]], and was disbanded in 1981. From 1845 until 1959, the club occupied a building at 74 [[St James's Street]] where the [[Thatched House Tavern]] had previously stood.

As the name implies, the club was politically aligned to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]], but it was formed at the outset for dissident Tories out of favour with the [[Carlton Club]], and its membership contained rebellious MPs and activists during its history.<ref name = bh>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40623 |title=St. James's Street, West Side, Existing Buildings | work=British History Online |accessdate=2009-03-10}}</ref>

==History==
Attendees at the inaugural meeting on 29 July 1840 were [[Quintin Dick]] MP, [[Frederick Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry|Viscount Castlereagh]] MP, [[W. S. Blackstone]] MP, the Hon. [[William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham|Captain Duncombe]] MP, [[Thomas Hawkes (MP)|Thomas Hawkes]] MP, [[W. A. Mackinnon]] MP, [[John Neeld, 1st Baronet|John Neeld]] MP, [[P. D. Pauncefort Duncombe]], Charles Hopkinson, and Thomas Walford. At first, the club met in the Lansdowne Hotel in [[Dover Street]], before taking up rooms in the Royal Hotel at 88 St. James's Street, until the clubhouse's 1845 completion.<ref name = bh/>

The clubhouse was designed by [[George Basevi]] and [[Sydney Smirke]] with a [[Palladian]] facade.<ref name = bh/> The Reception Salon and gallery contains [[mural]]s by Frederick Sang painted during the early 1850s in the Italianate style, modelled on [[Roman art|Roman]] and [[Pompeian Styles|Pompeian]] works. The [[mosaic]] floors were probably designed by [[Owen Jones (architect)|Owen Jones]], prefabricated by [[John Marriott Blashfield|Blashfield]].<ref name='HSBC'>{{cite book |title=London. A guide to the history and vision behind our 78 St James's Street office. |publisher=HSBC}}</ref>

In 1941, the non-political Bath Club was hit by a bomb, and after several moves to temporary accommodation, they were granted the hospitality of the Conservative Club. As the decade wore on, it was decided to merge the two clubs – in 1950 they became the '''Bath Club''' in name, although retaining the Conservative Club's premises until the end of the decade.

[[Mark Ashton]], later a gay activist and General Secretary of the [[Young Communist League]] from 1985 to 1986, worked as a barmaid in drag at the club.<ref name="Coles">{{cite book|last=Coles|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Coles|title=Fathomless Riches: Or How I Went From Pop to Pulpit|publisher=[[Hachette (publisher)|Hachette UK]]|year=2014|isbn=978-0-297-87031-9}}</ref>

The Thatched House Tavern, a famed [[coffee house]], occupied the site prior to the present building, hosting inaugural meetings of the [[Royal Yacht Squadron]], [[United Service Club]] and [[Carlton Club]].<ref name='HSBC'/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Politics|United Kingdom|Conservatism}}
* [[Association of Conservative Clubs]]
* [[List of gentlemen's clubs in London]]
* [[Conservative Club, Edinburgh]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Conservative-aligned gentlemen's clubs of London}}

{{coords|51.50881|-0.14273|display=title}}

[[Category:Gentlemen's clubs in London]]
[[Category:1840 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1981 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK)]]

Conservative Club - Revision history

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