Carlton Club’s victory party angers Tories

Furious members of the Carlton Club — spiritual home of the Tories — are worried that Theresa May’s anti-complacency message has been defied by the establishment in London’s st James’s.

They are concerned about the club’s hubristic decision to hold a celebratory champagne dinner on June 8 — starting hours before polls across the country even close.

Posh invites have been sent out for the event at the members-only club, which was founded in 1832 as the original home of the party before Conservative Central office was set up.

Though the club says it ‘continues to uphold these [Tory] values in its day-to-day activities’, an appalled member tells me: ‘Are they mad? it sends entirely the wrong message. it’s arrogant complacency. Every Tory member should be knocking on doors and hitting the phones up until the very last minute on polling day in order to try to secure every last vote — not drinking to victory before we know what’s happened.’

Not surprisingly, there is deep disquiet at Tory HQ, too, over the crass timing of the event. Particularly since publicity surrounding this ‘premature victory party’ might remind voters of the aristocratic chumocracy of the Cameron government.

For David Cameron was a member of rival White’s club — where his stockbroker dad had been chairman — only to resign because, being men-only, he felt its image was at odds with his wish to be seen as a modernising Tory leader.

Let’s hope the Carlton Club, which is filled with solid constituency members and is described as ‘Vintage Conservative’, learns from this blundering mistake.