The National Trust is going in the “wrong direction” and there are “serious flaws” in the way the organization operates, a former chairman of the charity has said.

Sir William Proby said he was reluctant to come out and criticize the organization or its successor, but was concerned about the direction the charity was taking.

His comments came after a right-wing think tank accused the National Trust of being “undemocratic” and “subverting democracy” over changes to the way it votes at its annual meeting.

write on daily telegraphSir William said: “The National Trust has always been controversial. This is because of its importance in the life of our country and the passion that many people have for what it does. This is healthy and should be welcomed by management and the board.

“A truly democratic structure allows these issues to be debated, voted on, and the organization to move forward. Suppressing dissent will only lead to a large number of disaffected members outside the organization, which will inevitably damage this great institution.”

Sir William added that he hoped the report would prompt the charity to return to its “democratic principles” and review its governance structure.

The report, National Mistrust: The End of Democracy in the National Trust, was written by Zewditu Gebreyohanes, a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute, a think tank.

Ms Gebreyohanes is also a former leader of the Restoration Trust, a campaign group for National Trust members who want the charity to uphold its mandate to protect historic buildings and stay away from the “wokeness”.

The report criticized the charity’s implementation of a new “quick vote” system that allows National Trust members to vote in favor of all leadership recommendations in one go.

It claims it was implemented without members’ prior knowledge, is undemocratic and was launched in 2022, a year after the Restoration Trust was established.

“A recent resolution put forward by National Trust members calling for the abolition of fast voting was defeated with just over 54,000 fast votes cast, meaning that almost 80 per cent of votes cast against the resolution were fast votes themselves,” the report said.

“If the results for each Trust-endorsed candidate are not inflated by more than 55,000 and 72,000, then the grassroots campaign launched by key members of the Restore Trust to restore the Trust to its statutory objectives, all candidates People will be elected in 2022 and 2023. It’s a quick vote in those years, respectively.”

It claimed that if one political party was responsible for drafting the reforms, the public would see it as a “gross abuse of power” and a “subversion of democracy”.

The report makes two recommendations. The first is that Culture, Media and Sport Minister Lucy Fraser should legislate to block anti-democratic measures. The second is that the Charity Commission should launch an investigation into Europe’s largest conservation charity.

A spokesman for the National Trust said: “The National Trust is an independent charity and, like all UK charities, is regulated by the Charity Commission.

“We have an open and democratic governance process and are accountable to regulators and members. Our members have firmly refused to table a resolution at the 2022 AGM recommending that the government monitor our work through an ombudsman.

“‘Quick Vote’ is being rolled out on the advice of our independent electoral service provider and is standard practice for large member institutions. We will continue to seek advice on standard electoral practice from responsible, regulated institutions who are experts in the field and has its own transparent governance system.”