ABSTRACT
The structure of the Conservative party comprises three principal elements: the professional, the parliamentary and the voluntary.
Carlton Club From the 1832 Reform Act, the Carlton Club, located in Pall Mall, acted as the informal venue for officials to organise the activities of the party. Many of its duties were entirely ad hoc with club officials primarily concerned with the party in parliament. At elections officials did seek to scrutinise the electoral registers and between elections made some efforts to encourage Conservative Associations in the constituencies to register voters. The Carlton Club committee, chaired by Granville Somerset, was weakened by the hostil ity of the county squirearchy who were unwilling to donate to central funds and who resented interference in their own electoral business. When Peel split with the party in 1846 the organisational side of the Carlton Club lost direction.
