Reform Club ~ The Election Process
Candidates for admission should be proposed and seconded by current members of the Club having personal knowledge of the candidate. Membership of the Reform Club is open on an equal basis to men and women and is by election. The procedure is identical for U.K. and overseas candidates.
Nomination Form
A form of nomination may be requested from the Secretary and then returned to him when it has been completed by the candidate, the proposer and the seconder.
Candidates Book
After scrutiny of the nomination form, the particulars of each candidate are entered, at monthly intervals, in the Candidates Book which is exhibited in the Saloon. The proposer will be advised when this has occurred. The book provides an opportunity for other members who have direct personal knowledge of the candidate to indicate their support but should not be signed by the proposer or seconder. There is no firm level of support which is looked for by the Committee. The particular circumstances of a candidature vary considerably and the Committee judges each on its merits. It should be noted that entry in the Candidates Book may also serve to alert members who may have reservations about a particular candidate. It is the convention in the Club that such reservations are expressed and substantiated in confidence to the Chairman or to the Secretary. The broad nature of those reservations, but not the identity of those expressing them, will be communicated to the proposer and seconder, who must then decide whether to withdraw the nomination or to proceed with it in the knowledge that the Committee may not feel able to elect.
Introduction of Candidates
After the particulars of a candidate have been entered in the Candidates Book it is necessary for the candidate to be introduced personally by the proposer or seconder to a serving member of the General Committee. The time and date of this introduction should be fixed through the Secretary's office. The introduction normally lasts about twenty minutes and may conveniently be arranged either in the early evening or before lunch.
Screening List
When the introduction of a candidate has been effected satisfactorily the candidate's name and particulars are entered on a Screening List which is exhibited in the Saloon. After the candidate's name has been screened for at least a month, the Committee is in a position to give consideration to election.
Election
Candidates will be advised personally of their election and are expected to take up their membership immediately upon it. The process of election will rarely be accomplished in less than four months. An Entrance Fee becomes due (except for those who are under the age of 35) immediately upon election and may be paid in three equal instalments, the first upon election and the second and third on 1st January of the two subsequent years.
