Reform Club

The Reform Club is a private members club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London. As with all gentlemen’s clubs, it originally comprised an all-male membership, but was among the first to change its rules to include the admission of women in 1981.

"The Reform" (as it is known in common parlance) enjoys extensive reciprocity with similar clubs around the world, and attracts significant numbers of foreign members, including diplomats.

History

19th century

The club was founded in 1836 by Edward Ellice, Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry and Whig Whip, whose riches came from the Hudson's Bay Company but whose zeal was chiefly devoted to securing the passage of the Reform Act 1832. This new club, for members of both Houses of Parliament, was intended to be a forum for the radical ideas which the First Reform Bill represented: a bastion of liberal and progressive thought that became closely associated with the Liberal Party, who largely succeeded the Whigs in the second half of the 19th century.

Reform Club of Hong Kong

The Reform Club of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港革新會) was one of the oldest political groups in Hong Kong existed from 1949 until the mid-1990s. Together with the Civic Association, they were the closest to opposition parties in Hong Kong during the post-war colonial period.

History

The Reform Club was founded by expatriate barrister Brook Bernacchi in 1949 the midst of the debate over the Young Plan, a plan for wide constitutional reform in Hong Kong. The immediate target of the Club was to campaign for direct elections to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Different from the Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association which was set up during the same time with the similar causes, the Reform Club was dominated by expatriates.

For decades the Reform Club and the Civic Association dominated the municipal politics as they provided most of the elected members of the Urban Council. It advocated more representative government in the territory and the improvement of public sector social services. In 1960, the two groups form a coalition and sent a delegate to London to demand for direct elections to the Legislative Council. In 1979, the Reform Club threatened to boycott elections if the Urban Council would not receive a majority of elected members and universal franchise was extended to all Hong Kong citizens. In 1982, it took part in the elections for the newly established district boards in the urban districts, which significantly extended the franchise.

Reform Club (disambiguation)

Reform Club is a London gentlemen's club.

Reform Club may also be: