National Trust blocks referendum on voting system which ‘stifles debate’

Membership prevented from having a ballot on controversial quick vote method described as ‘North Korean’ in nature

The National Trust has blocked a referendum on a controversial voting system which has been blamed for “stifling debate”.
An internal membership group was prevented from tabling a motion at the conservation charity’s AGM on Saturday calling for its five million members to be allowed to decide on the trust’s “quick vote” system.
This allows members to back the National Trust’s governing council by simply agreeing with one keystroke to its recommendation on issues and candidates.
Lord Sumption, the former Supreme Court judge and a member of Restore Trust, has previously described the quick vote system – blamed for allowing controversial changes to the National Trust to be pushed through – as “North Korean” in nature.
But a motion calling for a vote was rejected by the council ahead of the AGM, leaving the quick vote system in place for the election of new council members and other key matters.
Restore Trust, an internal group campaigning for reform of the the National Trust, said this means the slate of six candidates recommended by the council’s nominations committee will almost certainly be elected.
It claims the quick vote system discourages members from examining the issues or looking more closely at the list of the more than 100 candidates standing, and points out that trade unions are banned from using such a system in order to make sure issues are properly debated and examined by their members.
Cornelia van der Poll, a co-founder of Restore Trust, told The Telegraph: “By rejecting our resolution calling for a free vote of members on the issue of the quick vote system, it is clear the National Trust is stifling debate.”
The National Trust has been mired in controversy in recent years, with rows over the use of explainer panels at its stately homes pointing out the slave-owning history of their previous occupants and its decision to make its scones vegan by switching from butter to vegetable-based spread in the recipe.
On Saturday, members of the charity will vote on a resolution to make a minimum of half of the food at its 280 cafes plant-based, in order to support its efforts to reach net zero and improve biodiversity and health.
But Restore Trust argues that the quick voting system produces an almost default endorsement of whatever policies the council is choosing to adopt, whatever their merits or flaws, such as the 50 per cent vegan-based food target.
The council’s main responsibilities are to appoint the organisation’s chairman, deputy chairman and members of the board of trustees and to hold them to account.
The council is made up of 36 members, 18 members are elected directly by the membership and 18 are appointed by organisations.
Restore Trust claims that before the introduction of the quick vote in 2022, elections of the council produced a wider variety of winning candidates.
It says that by using a slate of recommended candidates the council is simply endorsing the election of new council members in its own image.
Ms Van der Poll said: “Before the quick vote system was adopted, people not recommended by the nominating committee got elected. As a result we had more variety and diversity of thought on the council. The quick vote system acts against that.
“The effect is serious. It’s a means of rubber stamping the slate of new candidates put forward by the council, which has the effect of perpetuating the existing make up of the council. It also means the council is not being properly held to account because members are encouraged not to examine candidates or issues in detail.”
Following a vote last year 60,000 members voted to scrap the quick voting system, with 69,000 voting to keep it.
However, Restore Trust says of those who supported the system only 15,000 did so actively, with the rest using the quick vote. It claims that about three quarters of members who cast their ballots themselves, without using the quick vote, voted for its abolition.
This year it specifically asked for a “free vote”, which would have prevented the council from recommending members vote against the motion as happened last year – but this was rejected.
Restore Trust, which is backing its own candidates for the vacancies on the council, was established after anger over a 115-page National Trust report that linked its properties with slavery and colonialism in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The charity defended its use of the quick vote system, saying it had “no impact on members’ ability” to decide matters.
A spokesman for the National Trust said: “The removal of quick vote was proposed as a resolution and voted on at the 2023 AGM. Members voted to reject the resolution and keep quick vote for future ballots.
“Under our parliamentary scheme, resolutions can only be put to members if they haven’t been proposed at any of the three previous AGMs. This is to allow reasonable opportunity for other National Trust members to propose resolutions on other matters that are important to them and to ensure a broad range of members’ voices and views are heard.
“Quick vote is entirely optional and is therefore a free vote. It is standard practice for balloting at large member organisations and members make an active choice whether to use it or not. It has no impact on members’ ability to debate the resolution as debate takes place at the AGM itself.”