The former chairman of the National Trust has warned that the organisation is “going in the wrong direction” after a report accused it of “subversion of democracy”.
In an unprecedented intervention, Sir William Proby said there were “serious flaws” in the way the organisation was being run.
His comments came after a report accused the Trust of an “abuse of power and subversion of democracy” over changes to voting at its annual general meeting.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Proby said: “The National Trust has always attracted controversy. This is because of its importance in our national life and the passion which so many people feel for what it does. This is healthy and should be welcomed by the management and board of trustees.
"A truly democratic structure allows these issues to be debated, voted on, and the organisation can move on. Stifling dissent will only lead to a running sore of disaffected members outside the organisation, which inevitably will damage this great institution.”
The report, "National Distrust: The End of Democracy in the National Trust," was authored by Zewditu Gebreyohanes, a leading researcher at the Legatum Institute think tank and ex-leader of Restore Trust.
This campaign group emerged in 2021, sparked by discontent over what they termed a "woke agenda" following the charity's publication of a report on its properties' connections to slavery and colonialism.
Gebreyohanes pointed out issues such as the "quick vote" feature at AGMs, which lets National Trust members endorse all the charity's suggestions with a single tick, as areas needing attention.
The report called on Lucy Frazer, the culture secretary, to "prohibit all antidemocratic measures" and for an inquiry by the Charity Commission.
The report said: "If a nation's incumbent political party were in charge of drawing up ballot forms and introduced a voting option at the top of the form with the option for members to vote in line with the government's recommendations, the public would likely recognise this as a significant abuse of power and a subversion of democracy. It is equally undemocratic for the National Trust to resort to such tactics."
A National Trust spokesperson said:"The National Trust is an independent charity regulated, like all UK charities, by the Charity Commission. We have open and democratic governance processes and are accountable both to our regulators and to our members. Our members firmly rejected a resolution suggesting government oversight in our work via an ombudsman at our AGM in 2022.
"Quick vote was introduced following advice from our independent election services provider that it is standard practice for large membership bodies. We will continue to take advice on what is standard electoral practice from accountable, regulated institutions that are experts in this field, and which have their own transparent systems of governance.”
