Westminster Reference Library

Ciro's, often written Ciros, was an exclusive nightclub in Orange Street, Leicester Square, London, "just behind the National Gallery". It was famously closed during WWI for serving alcohol illegally. A fashionable club of the same name later opened at the same location.

Cities of London and Westminster (also known as City of London and Westminster South from 1974 to 1997) is a constituency returning a single Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons in the United Kingdom Parliament. It is a borough constituency for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer. As with all constituencies, the election is decided using the first past the post system of election. Since its creation at the 1950 general election, the constituency has always elected the candidate nominated by the Conservative Party.

The Odeon Luxe West End is a two-screen cinema on the south side of Leicester Square, London. It has historically been used for smaller film premieres and hosting the annual BFI London Film Festival. The site is on an adjacent side of the square to the much larger flagship Odeon Luxe Leicester Square. Odeon Cinemas sold the building to three Irish investors in 2006, who continued to lease it. In 2012, it was bought by the Radisson Edwardian hotel group. It closed as a cinema on 1 January 2015. After extensive asbestos removal, the entire site was demolished the same year.It reopened in September 2021 as an Odeon Luxe cinema, following a £300 million redevelopment of the site that also includes a luxury hotel. It is London's second Dolby Cinema.

Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on DAB Digital Radio, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media and Global Player. It specialises in hip hop, grime and R&B music, and is a commercial competitor to BBC Radio 1Xtra.

The 400 Club was a night club at 28a Leicester Square, in the West End of London. The building was originally home to the Cranbourne Club, then part of it became a cinema in 1909, with a basement tearoom. In 1914, it became Cupid's Cinema and in 1926, the Palm Court Cinema, but closed in 1928 in the face of mounting competition. It later became a restaurant, before it was the 400 Club.For two decades the 400 Club catered to "the upper classes at night time".During World War II, the 400 Club was frequented by people in the armed forces. These included Battle of Britain pilots, one of whom, Brian Kingcome, recollected in his memoirs spending time at " . . . the Four Hundred, whose dimly lit dance floor and seductive music were excellent backdrops for young men in uniform trying their luck with the 'I'm off to war tomorrow and may never come back' routine . . . "There was an 18-piece orchestra, and it was a favourite of Princess Margaret from the early 1950s, with the table used by her and her friends being known as "The Royal Box".From 1957, the 400 no longer required gentlemen patrons to wear a dinner jacket.In the 1970s, it became Adam's, an upscale gay cub, then Subway, a sleazy gay disco that was closed down by the local council, then the Comedy Store. In 1992, the cinema became part of the Wetherspoon's pub The Moon under Water, with the basement a nightclub called Storm and later Club Koo.

The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre near Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town and The Venue. The theatre hosts stand-up comedy, cabaret, music, plays and comedies.

The Leverian collection was a natural history and ethnographic collection assembled by Ashton Lever. It was noted in particular for the content it acquired from the voyages of Captain James Cook. For three decades it was on display in London, being broken up by auction in 1806. The first public location of the collection was the Holophusikon, also known as the Leverian Museum, at Leicester House, on Leicester Square, from 1775 to 1786. After it passed from Lever's ownership, it was displayed for nearly twenty years more at the purpose-built Blackfriars Rotunda just across the Thames, sometimes called Parkinson's Museum for its subsequent owner, James Parkinson (c. 1730-1813).

The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was demolished in 1936. The name was also adopted by many other British music hall theatres located elsewhere; in Bradford, in Hull and in Glasgow etc. The name comes from association with the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.

The statue of William Shakespeare, sculpted by Giovanni Fontana, an Italian sculptor, after an original by Peter Scheemakers, has formed the centrepiece of Leicester Square Gardens in London since 1874.

Leicester Square ( (listen) LES-tər) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. The square was originally a gentrified residential area, with tenants including Frederick, Prince of Wales and the artists William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds. It became more down-market in the late 18th century as Leicester House was demolished and retail developments took place, becoming a centre for entertainment. Several major theatres were built in the 19th century, which were converted to cinemas towards the middle of the next. Leicester Square is the location of nationally significant cinemas such as the Odeon Leicester Square, Empire, Leicester Square, which are often used for film premieres (and the now closed Odeon West End). The nearby Prince Charles Cinema is known for its screenings of cult films and marathon film runs. The square remains a tourist attraction which hosts events, including for the Chinese New Year. The square has always had a park in its centre, which was originally Common land. The park's fortunes have varied over the centuries, reaching near dilapidation in the mid-19th century after changing ownership several times. It was restored under the direction of Albert Grant, which included the construction of four new statues and a fountain of William Shakespeare. The square was extensively refurbished and remodelled for the 2012 London Olympics, at a cost of more than £15 million taking over 17 months to complete.

Scenes in the Square is a film-themed sculpture trail in Leicester Square, London. Eight sculptures were installed in February 2020. These sculptures depict characters from the last 100 years of cinema including Laurel and Hardy, Mary Poppins, Batman, Bugs Bunny, Don Lockwood portrayed by Gene Kelly, Paddington Bear, Mr. Bean, and Wonder Woman. A sculpture of Harry Potter was installed later on in 2020 and then in 2021, a sculpture of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones was added.

The Arrow was a British digital radio station playing classic and contemporary rock music. It broadcast on DAB Digital Radio (in London) and was also streamed over digital satellite TV and online. The station was operated by Global; prior to Global's formation it was owned by their predecessor Chrysalis Radio.