Two Chairmen is thought to be the oldest public house in Westminster. The pub sign can be traced back to 1729 and features two men carrying a sedan chair. The pub is near Birdcage Walk, where James I had aviaries for exotic birds. The pub has been called 'The hidden gem of Dartmouth Street' by The London Evening Standard.
The pub is located on Dartmouth Street opposite the infamous early theatre The Royal Cockpit, which was known as a cockfighting arena. Rebuilt in 1756, Two Chairmen is named after the two men who used to carry the sedan chairs for wealthy patrons who frequented the pub in its early days. Apparently the Sedan chair carriers would wait in the pub for fares which would appear after the cockfights had finished.
In 1935 the pub was the location for the founding of the Society of Civil Service Authors.
Notable clientele and mentions
In 2007 Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, gave an interview to The Daily Telegraph journalist Robert Watts.
Former Whitehall civil servant Damian McBride was a regular at the Two Chairmen where it is reported he released secrets about Gordon Brown to journalists.
Political Editor for The Mail on Sunday, Simon Walters, first met former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam at the Two Chairmen.
It is alleged that several members of the Liberal Democrats including Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne met at the upstairs room in the Two Chairmen to plot the downfall of party leader Menzies Campbell.
The Two Chairmen is mentioned in a book by author John Rae entitled The Old Boys Network: A Headmaster's Diaries 1972-1986, where the author receives a call from the pub landlord to go and collect several drunk students.
In a book entitled Betjeman by the author A. N. Wilson the pub is mentioned in correspondence between John Betjeman and Eric James where Betjeman writes "Wrong. The Two Chairmen is a pub near here. If you have the courage to say that you are very sorry, but you have to leave, I'll come with you and we can go to the Two Chairmen."
Author Michael Dobbs mentions the Two Chairmen in his book A Sentimental Traitor where the character Jemma comments that the pub is "entirely presentable but scarcely The Ritz".
