A Tory donor, an activist opposed to critical race theory and two “anti-woke” Conservative historians are among candidates being promoted by a right-wing campaign group seeking to wrestle control of the National Trust.
Restore Trust, the group of self-styled “anti-woke” insurgents, which has publicly criticised the National Trust over rewilding and social inclusion policies, had limited success at last year’s National Trust AGM, when a number of resolutions it supported were defeated.
However, the group – favoured in the right-wing press – now says it only needs a few thousand former members of the charity to return in order to pass a number of resolutions designed to put pressure on the Trust’s leadership this month.
Using paid-for social media adverts, it has returned with a strategy of backing candidates for the Trust’s council. They include Philip Gibbs, once regarded as one of Britain’s most talented fund managers, who donated more than £500,000 to the Conservative party between 2009 and 2020.
He declined to comment when approached by the Guardian but wrote in a statement pitching for votes from Trust members that the charity should be “less political”.
The other five candidates include Bola Anike, who has campaigned against local authority anti-racism training, which she claimed was based on “critical race theory”. Anike’s campaign against the local authority’s approach to anti-racism training in Brighton has been supported by Don’t Divide Us, a campaign group which organised an event at this year’s Conservative party conference.
Also backed by Restore Trust are Jeremy Black, a former Exeter University professor who has railed against the threat to “British civilisation” from what he see as “wokeness” in universities and elsewhere, and Zareer Masani, a conservative historian and activist with the right-wing History Matters project.
The former head of History Matters, Zewditu Gebreyohanes, is now Restore Trust director. Other team members include Neil Record, a City currency manager and former Tory donor who has given money to a climate denying lobby group the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
Record has also chaired Net Zero Watch, a new campaign group which was launched last year and which seeks to “highlight the serious economic and societal implications of expensive and poorly considered climate and energy policies”.
Resolutions due to be voted on at this year’s AGM in Bath, although they have not been put forward by Restore Trust, include one deploring the rewilding of some Trust farmland, which the proposers described as an irresponsible and “fashionable environmental fad”. This is rejected by the charity’s board of trustees, which asserts that the policy is based on scientific evidence. Another resolution “deplores” the Trust’s participation in Pride parades, describing it as a “divisive and unaccountable waste of members’ subscriptions”. The Trustees describe the resolution as counter to the Trust’s ethos and assert that they want to foster “a culture of understanding and respect”.
Originally set up in 2020, Restore Trust appeared to be a collection of grassroots activists unhappy with the direction the charity. Issues that had exercised some members included allegations about the treatment of some staff and a report published by the Trust in 2020 detailing the connections some of its properties have with slavery and colonialism.
By 2021, Restore Trust had professionalised, registering a new company and creating a slick new website, with new directors and communications support from an experienced London public relations expert. Its latest director, announced this month, is property developer and Ukip donor Mark Roberts, whose company gave £10,000 to the party in 2018.
While it has ramped up a social media presence over the past two years, the group has now been accused by the National Trust of targeting older members of the charity by paying for leaflets that have been pushed under car windscreen wipers, in the properties’ tea rooms, and through the doors of people who live nearby.
These leaflets proclaim that something is wrong with the National Trust, and urgent help is needed.
Restore Trust director Zewditu Gebreyohanes said: “Restore Trust is a non-partisan member-led grassroots campaign which stands against the increasing commercialisation of the National Trust, as we believe this has led it away from its charitable objects and ethos.” She added that the group opposed the sale of National Trust land to private developers, and was concerned about the treatment of volunteers and the “lack of accountability” on major decisions.
“This year we have put forward two resolutions which are about increasing democracy and accountability in the National Trust; they propose abolition of the undemocratic discretionary proxy vote and creation of an independent ombudsman to which those with concerns can turn if their concerns are ignored by the Trust’s management.”
Celia Richardson, the National Trust’s director of communications, said that Restore Trust’s aim was to populate the council of the Trust with people who share what she described as its anti-progressive views.
The council is made up of 36 people – half directly elected by members and half appointed by NGOs and charities. Last year, Restore Trust ran paid social media campaigns to get their preferred candidates on to the National Trust council, including Stephen Green, Director of Christian Voice.
She has also accused the group of encouraging trolling of National Trust staff, as it replied to a Twitter user which called the Trust a “cess pit” and said they hoped it would “lose more members” by encouraging them to join their mailing list and vote in the AGM.
“The National Trust’s council is elected by members and made up of members acting as volunteers. We have a long, proud tradition of openness and healthy democratic process underpinning our governance. This will continue, but we will work hard to protect our independence,” said Richardson.
• The headline and text of this article were amended on 31 October and 2 November 2022 to remove the suggestion that Restore Trust brought the resolutions on rewilding and LGBTQ+ issues tabled for the National Trust’s 2022 AGM, and to include a statement from the group’s director setting out the two resolutions Restore Trust has put forward. The sentence regarding leaflets was also revised to avoid any impression that their distribution was paid for; the group said its supporters volunteered to distribute them.
