National Liberal Club

The National Liberal Club is a private members' club in London, founded in 1882 by the Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone. He intended it as a base for liberal politics in Britain and well beyond. Several bars, a dining room and a snooker room fill the building, which overlooks the River Thames.

Membership stretches across civil servants, parliamentarians, scientists, academics, actors, authors and journalists. In 1976 it became the first major private club in London to admit women. Liberalism still sits at the heart of its values. Political members vote on matters that shape its future, and joining requires no party allegiance, only a declared liberal outlook. H. G. Wells, Dylan Thomas, Bram Stoker, Violet Bonham Carter and Andrew Carnegie have all belonged here. More than fifty member-led circles cover politics, arts, culture and sport. The year's calendar runs from political talks and theatre to music, dining and seasonal celebrations. Some of those events are open to the public. Working days have a place here too: dedicated desks, ultra-fast broadband and discounted meeting rooms serve members who work in central London. A network of more than 350 reciprocal clubs worldwide, 40 of them in the United Kingdom, extends the club's reach beyond London.

You can hire the rooms too, for weddings and other private events. Then there is the terrace, said to be the largest private one in London. Members and their guests take meals or drinks out there, with the River Thames running along just below.