Simon Case has rejoined the Garrick Club, according to reports, after quitting the then-all-male club earlier this year.
The cabinet secretary, who announced earlier this week that he would step down from leading the civil service at the end of the year due to health issues, left the Garrick in March after The Guardian revealed his membership of the club alongside dozens of other high-profile figures.
Since then, the club has changed its rules and admitted two women so far – actors Dame Siân Phillips and Dame Judi Dench – to join its list of around 1,500 members. But it has told members that there will be "no fast-tracking of women members except in exceptional circumstances".
The club’s management has allowed members who stepped down earlier this year amid criticism of the all-male members policy to withdraw their resignations and keep their memberships without needing to go through the usual lengthy and expensive rejoining process, according to The Guardian.
After Case's membership of the club was disclosed, the head of the civil service was questioned on it at parliament's Liaison Committee and was initially clear that he would not be rescinding his membership.
Committee member Liam Byrne asked whether it was possible to "foster a genuine culture of inclusiveness" at the same time as being a member of an all-male club and whether it was “a good signal to send to the machine”.
Strongly suggesting he was keen to see the admission of female members, Case said: "I have to say, my position on this one is clear. If you believe profoundly in the reform of an institution, by and large it's easier to do if you join it to make the change from within rather than chuck rocks from the outside.”
The cab sec added: "Maths is also part of this. Every one person who leaves – who is in favour of fixing this antediluvian position – every one of us who leaves means these institutions don't change. I think that when you want reform, you have to participate."
And he said he believed other government officials who are members of the club shared the same thinking.
"I'm very sure I speak on behalf of all the public servants who have recently joined the Garrick under the banner of trying to make reform happen," Case said.
Case quit the club less than 24 hours later.