Steerpike was delighted to see the return of Cherie Blair to the spotlight this week. The leading barrister and better half of former PM Tony has joined a campaign to force the men-only Garrick club to admit women, signing a petition which calls on the establishment fixture to change its rules.
The Garrick boasts cabinet ministers, academics and mandarins among its members and has long-enjoyed a reputation as a favourite haunt of Supreme Court justices. Signing the petition, Cherie recalled watching her fellow trainee barrister and future husband Tony being admitted into the club in 1976, while she was shut outside, describing the lack of progress since as ‘outrageous.’ And the top QC has been doing her bit to tackle this lack of progress, primarily through her eponymous charity.
Humbly titled the ‘Cherie Blair Foundation for Women,’ the institute published its annual accounts this week. Its accompanying report praises ‘our tireless founder,’ gushing how ‘in 2020 we realised just how far-sighted the vision of our founder was’ and that the charity’s ‘capacity for impact has never seemed so limitless.’
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