The National Trust has said it will continue to take advice from “accountable, regulated institutions” after its democratic process was criticised by a think tank.
A report, called National Distrust: The End of Democracy in the National Trust and published by the Legatum Institute, criticised the charity’s voting system, restriction on attendances at annual general meetings and other behaviour it described as “anti-democratic”.
The report was written by Zewditu Gebreyohanes, a former leader of Restore Trust.
Restore Trust is a campaign group set up in 2021 for the National Trust to “reclaim its mission” and change the charity’s direction.
The pressure group previously claimed the National Trust had a “woke agenda” in relation to its 2020 report linking its properties to colonialism and slavery.
In 2022, the National Trust introduced a quick vote system that uses ballot papers to indicate whether motions line up with trustees and the nominations committee.
The report criticises the system, saying it has “substantially altered the results of voting on both council candidates and members’ resolutions, so that only trust-recommended candidates and resolutions can now succeed”.
The National Trust said quick vote was introduced following advice from the charity’s independent election services provider which is “standard practice for large membership bodies”.
The charity said: “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.”
Gebreyohanes also criticised the charity’s restriction on AGM attendance in 2022 and 2023, claiming the National Trust had a “desire to stifle dissent”.
Sir William Proby, the charity’s former chairman between 2003 and 2008, supported the Legatum Institute report.
Writing in The Telegraph newspaper, Proby said: “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 also calls for the Charity Commission to open a statutory inquiry into the National Trust.
A spokesperson for the National Trust 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.”