Cads’ Corner and Mark Francois holding court: inside the Carlton Club

Allegations against Christopher Pincher focus attention on 1,700-a-year Tory haunt in central London

Just inside the grand entrance to the Carlton Club, the private members' venue in central London where the Conservative MP Christopher Pincher is alleged to have groped two men, is an area known as Cads' Corner.

The club, which is closely tied to the Conservative party, boasts about this inviting corner" that features a small cluster of chairs underneath a grand staircase - but its website is somewhat coy about how Cads' Corner gained its name. As Dr Seth Thevoz, a historian of London's private members' clubs, explained: It's the spot where male members could stand to stare up the skirts of female guests walking up and down the stairs."