The Carlton Club was founded in 1832 in the aftermath of the victory of the whig party which passed the great Reform Act in that year.   The genesis of the Carlton Club was in meetings of a small number of Tory Members of Parliament at an address in Charles II Street, off St James’s Square, following the massive reform majority in the 1831 General Election.   By 1832 it was obvious that the premises were too small for the purposes of effective party organisation.

On 10th March 1832 a meeting at the Thatched House Tavern appointed a committee to arrange the housing and management of a new club in premises in Carlton Terrace made available by Lord Kensington.   The name “Carlton Club” was adopted on 17th March and by the end of that month membership stood at over 500.   From the outset the Club flourished as a political and social centre.

By 1835 the wealth and standing of the Club was such that it was able to occupy new premises on Pall Mall designed for the Club by Sir Robert Smirke.   These premises were extended in 1846, by which time the Carlton Club contained the substantial strength of conservatism in the country.   Membership of the Club was both a token of adherence in the party and, to the outside world, a badge of allegiance.   The Club became the hub of the party election machinery.

Today the Club continues to support the Party in many ways but the hub of the Party is now based at Party Headquarters.

The Carlton Club remains the Conservative Club.   Although standing since 1826, 69 St James’s Street only became the clubhouse after the Pall Mall building was destroyed in an air-raid during the Second World War – Members of Parliament having their dinner at the Club rudely interrupted!   Many of the Club’s most valuable possessions, including portraits of Conservative Prime Ministers and Cabinets since the 18th century, survived the destruction of the old Clubhouse.