The head of the civil service Simon Case has reportedly rejoined the Garrick Club six months after resigning amid a row over its men-only membership policy.
Cabinet Secretary Mr Case announced he was quitting the exclusive West End club after he was named on a leaked list of 80 senior figures who were members of the then men-only establishment.
The club, which was founded in 1831, had previously rebuffed calls to admit women but reversed the policy after a vote of its 1,500 members in May.
Now it has been reported that the Garrick’s management has allowed members including Mr Case who left in March and April to withdraw their resignations and rejoin.
A source told The Guardian that the resignations of Mr Case and other figures had been put "in limbo" pending the outcome of the vote.
A Cabinet Office spokesman told the newspaper that Mr Case had previously campaigned for a change of membership rules within the club but declined to comment on whether he had rejoined.
Sir Richard Moore, head of the Secret Intelligence Service, who also renounced his membership, is not expected to rejoin, it was reported.
Mr Case said this week that he would step down from his job as Cabinet Secretary at the end of the year on health grounds.
During a select committee hearing in March, he was asked how he could “foster a genuine culture of inclusiveness” within the Civil Service while being a member of the men-only Garrick.
A day later he resigned from the club.
The club’s membership list was revealed to include King Charles, several high court judges and senior politicians, as well as actors Brian Cox, Hugh Bonneville, Benedict Cumberbatch and Matthew Macfadyen.
In July, Dame Judi Dench and Dame Sian Phillips became the first female members of the club in its near-200 year history. However, the pace of change has been slow, with no other women elected as members since.
Prof Rosie Campbell, the director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, told the Guardian she was disappointed with Mr Case’s reported decision.
She said: “Staying a member when just two women have joined and when there will be no fast-tracking of more women signals a lack of sincerity in the original resignation.
“When Case was asked about the Garrick at a select committee, he joked about it as if it wasn’t a big deal – he clearly didn’t understand the deeply felt concerns of women in the civil service and what this said about his commitment to equality.”
Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government, said: “Progress will be very slow unless clubs take special measures to accelerate entry of people who’ve been excluded and current members will need to judge whether they are comfortable with that.”
The Garrick was contacted for comment.
