The National Trust has raised concerns about “political pressure” and defended its right to lobby on nature amid a renewed campaign by a self-styled “anti-woke” group seeking to recruit Conservative MPs to its cause.
The leadership of the UK’s largest charity is facing a fresh challenge at its annual meeting next month from the right-leaning Restore Trust group, whose candidates tried but failed to win seats on the National Trust’s 36-strong governing council last year.
The Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage have shared social media attack adverts this year linked to the Restore Trust campaign.
A veteran Tory party activist, who ran campaigns for Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, has also sent out invitations to join a WhatsApp group set up for MPs and peers.
Restore Trust opposes what it describes as a “woke” agenda – including National Trust displays about slavery and historical figures – and has said it wants to steer the charity “back to its core purpose of looking after our heritage and countryside”. It has endorsed five candidates who are standing for election to its council.
Most prominent among the Restore Trust-backed candidates is the former supreme court judge Jonathan Sumption.
As members of the charity prepare to cast their votes in the governing council election, the National Trust spoke of its concern about the role of paid Restore Trust adverts on Facebook and their dissemination by political figures on social media.
“Our governance depends on independent citizens who are free from political influence, acting collectively in the best interests of this charity,” a spokesperson said. “Any political campaign to influence the governance of an independent charity would be concerning, and we are not the only charity coming under political pressure.
“We are aware of [Restore Trust’s] attempts to organise support among MPs. We trust our members will make up their own minds, and vote in the best long-term interests of the National Trust and the nations we serve.”
At an event at the Conservative party conference this week, the National Trust’s director general, Hilary McGrady, also defended its right to oppose policies, such as the government’s plans to scrap pollution rules for housebuilders, that would harm nature.
McGrady herself has faced personal attacks online for her defence of nature. “I’ve got very thick skin these days,” she told the Guardian, adding: “But to be really clear, the National Trust was founded to actually look after green space.”
She said: “All the way through our 128 years we have very consistently campaigned for the protection of the countryside as well as our houses and of course we don’t really see a distinction because our houses sit on our landscapes.”
In the run-up to the trust’s next AGM, political figures have received emails from Andrew Kennedy, a former Conservative campaigner for Truss, Johnson and others, inviting them to sign up to briefings and join a Restore Trust WhatsApp group so social media graphics can be shared.
“There are over 5 million National Trust members eligible to vote: the challenge is identifying and sharing the message,” he wrote in an email. “The support of respected and influential individuals to help share out message will be key to our success.”
In a post on Facebook where he invited councillors to join, Kennedy said he was working with Restore Trust, which he said was led by a group of longstanding National Trust members “who are concerned that the NT has abandoned its original remit and is now, like much of the charitable and third sector, pursuing a politically motivated ‘revisionist’ agenda”.
The National Trust AGM takes place on 11 November in Swindon. While the charity continues to find itself in the eye of a “culture war”, polling last week by the thinktank More in Common found that public confidence in the charity rose in the past year.
More than 70% of 2,000 adults polled said they trusted the National Trust, up seven points on last year. The same number regarded the organisation as a force for good, ahead of schools, the military and other sectors.
Attempts were made to contact Restore Trust and Kennedy for comment.
