The Chief Whips of the two parties were co-secretaries of the club, so that pairs could be arranged, meaning members' dinner would not be interrupted by divisions in the parliament.
Nothing in the rules or intercourse of the Club shall interfere with the rancour or asperity of party politics,[3] although the so-called Birkenhead school ascribes this to Smith.
After Smith's death in 1930, Churchill became practically the sole arbiter and election was the greatest honour he could confer on those he considered both estimable and entertaining.
[citation needed] Charles Wilson, created Lord Moran, was Churchill's physician for many years and in the late 1950s asked outright to be elected.
[citation needed] Churchill met Aristotle Onassis in the south of France and became such friends as to elect him to the club, to the astonishment of other members.