London Press Club

History of the London Press Club

The London Press Club can trace its origins back to 28 October 1882 when George Augustus Sala, a prominent journalist, illustrator and cartoonist of his day, presided over the inaugural dinner at Anderton's Hotel, Fleet Street. Many distinguished figures have been involved with the Club - a list of past officers is available on this site. Over the years the Club has been situated in many parts of London, all associated with the press, and we moved into our new premises in the St Bride Institute, Fleet Street, in the spring of 1999. Since then we have gone from strength to strength.

A founder member of the European Federation of Press Clubs, the London Press Club played a leading role in the launch of the International Association of Press Clubs and Foreign Correspondents' Centres in Dubai in 2000. As a result Club members have access to 60 Press Clubs worldwide including Austria, Belgium (2), the Czech Republic, France (2), Germany, Hungary, Italy (4), Poland, Russia, Spain (3), Switzerland, Australia (2), Canada (3), Hong Kong, Dubai, Japan, USA (15) and many others. We also have reciprocal visiting arrangements in London with the Foreign Press Association (Carlton House Terrace) which has bar and dining facilities. In addition, the St Bride Institute itself is home to the famous St Bride Printing Library, Printing Museum and Bridewell Theatre.

Social functions, lectures, exhibitions and outings are organised throughout the year. Highlights amongst these are the Christmas lunch (held recently at the St Stephen's Club), regular monthly drinks evenings at The Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street and the London Press Club Ball. Other events have included exhibitions - such as 'A Century of Front Pages', 'The Top 100 20th Century British Cartoonists' and '300 Years of Fleet Street' (attended by Prince Charles) - visits to the London Eye, Lord's Cricket Ground, the British Library, the Farnborough Air Show, the National Newspaper Archives and the offices of the Daily Telegraph.

In addition the Club administers the highly prestigious annual London Press Club Awards Luncheon (sponsored by British Gas), featuring such famous awards as Scoop of the Year, the Edgar Wallace Award for Fine Writing, Business Journalist of the Year, Broadcasting Journalist of the Year, Consumer Affairs Journalist of the Year and Daily and Sunday Newspaper of the Year. Previous winners have included Martin Bell, Sue MacGregor, Andrew Marr, Matthew Parris, Peter Preston and Keith Waterhouse. Guests of honour at these awards have included Prime Minister Tony Blair - who in 2001 chose the occasion to announce to the world that he had begun to wear reading glasses, thereby giving the Club itself a worldwide scoop! - Lord Robertson (head of NATO), Home Secretary David Blunkett and Leaders of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard, David Cameron and the Archbishop of York.

The Club also produces a glossy quarterly magazine Press News, filled with news and views of the world of the press and other media - together with reports of all our functions - which is sent free to all members. And members of the London Press Club can join the Commonwealth Club of the Royal Commonwealth Society at a large discount.

There are various levels of membership and amongst our corporate members are such household names as Rolls-Royce, Barclays, BAE Systems, BNFL, Agricultural Biotechnology Council, City of London, Federation of Small Businesses, Trinity Mirror, Camelot, Ladbrokes, Deloitte & Touche and British Gas. Individual members come from a wide spectrum of the media including national and regional journalists, newspaper and magazine editors, broadcasters, cartoonists, photographers, PR consultants, cultural attachés of foreign embassies, press historians and academics, syndication agencies, and many others - and retired and student members are also welcome.

If you have any queries about the London Press Club please contact us, using the contact form provided.