Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage also has the Trust in his sights, backing an anti-woke splinter group of candidates, after the failed campaign of the Restore Trust (RT) to win in the council elections last year.
If you’re a member of the National Trust, you can vote in the Trust’s council elections on the link here, until November 3
The elections to decide who gets to sit on the council of the National Trust, the UK’s largest charity, matter. Why, some of you may ask. Because what’s at stake is the future not only of the UK’s largest charity but also one which owns more than 1,300 farms, 775 miles of coastline and 250,000 hectares of land, making it Britain’s largest private landowner.
The right recognises the importance of an institution like the National Trust, doing all it can in the upcoming council elections to ensure its candidates win, which will have implications for the future of the charity.
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage also has the Trust in his sights, backing an anti-woke splinter group of candidates, after the failed campaign of the Restore Trust (RT) to win in the council elections last year.
In October 2021, the National Trust warned of an ideological campaign being waged against it by self-styled ‘anti-woke insurgents’ belonging to the group known as Restore Trust (RT). Last year’s AGM saw the Trust subjected to a well-coordinated campaign by RT.
The Restore Trust campaign began in 2021, in the wake of the publication of a report by the National Trust that highlighted connections between 93 of its historic places and slavery. The dossier of sites linked to ‘colonialism and slavery’ included Winston Churchill’s former family home, citing the former prime minister’s role in the Bengal famine and his opposition to Indian independence. RT took exception to the report claiming it “presents a strongly negative view of Britain, and which does not properly represent the scholarly consensus.”
Now the RT has a new list of candidates for the upcoming council elections, with voting open until November 3rd, and this time, they’ve been endorsed by Nigel Farage, who is a family friend of one of the candidates. Farage, a seven-time failed parliamentary candidate said earlier this year: “I hope that Restore Trust knocks a bit of common sense into what was once the great National Trust.”
Among Restore Trust’s candidates is Farage’s friend Lady Violet Manners. Yorkshire Bylines reports: “Manners is the eldest daughter of UKIP supporter the Duke of Rutland and her family’s estate, Belvoir Castle, has hosted fundraising events for the party. Farage has been a dinner guest at the castle which boasts 356 rooms and 16,000 acres of land.”
Other candidates include Philip Merricks, who has drawn criticism in the past over his links to the grouse shooting industry, as well as Lord Jonathan Sumption who is reported to have earned the highest legal fee in British history when as a barrister he defended the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in the controversial Berezovsky vs Abramovich case of 2012.
Candidate Andrew Gimson is described as a brilliant sketch writer by Charles Moore, his close friend and former editor of the Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator.
The attempted capture of the National Trust by a right-wing, anti-woke group should be opposed.
If you’re a member of the Trust, you can vote until November 3rd on the link here.
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.