National Trust: Pundit on 'interesting' Tim Parker resignation

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His application to head up the charity comes as it battles claims that it has “lost its way” by being taken over by a “bunch of woke folk”. The former Minister for International Development is being seen by certain members of the National Trust as a welcome external candidate who may be able to return the 126-year-old institution to its preservation roots.

The chairman of the Trust is an unpaid role and is the most senior of the charity’s 50,000 volunteers.

Mr Stewart – who was one of the contenders to be knocked out of the Tory leadership race in 2019 – is looking to replace Tim Parker, who resigned in May.

Other candidates reportedly include Charles Gurassa, the chairman of Channel 4, and Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery until 2015 and one of the National Trust’s trustees.

However, any external applicants will have to face off from Orna Ni-Chionna, who has been deputy chair of the Trust since 2014.

Ms Ni-Chionna is the wife of Baron Turner of Ecchinswell, who was chairman of the CBI in the early days of the New Labour government.

However, her appointment would be seen by some as a continuation of the Trust’s current leadership, at a time when there are calls for change.

Restore Trust – a campaign to move the Trust away from some of its recent activities and back to purely conservation – believes that the charity had “lost its way”.

Neil Bennett, the spokesperson for Restore Trust, said of Ms Ni-Chionna: “Someone who has already served on the board for eight years would not seem to me to be a suitable candidate for an organisation that needs change.”

He added: “We would like to see the members have a greater say.

“The National Trust is at its heart a members’ organisation and the members should have a greater say in the management and governance.”

In September last year, the charity drew criticism when it published a report into links between its properties and the UK’s colonial past and with slavery.

The Charity Commission has since opened a “regulatory compliance case”.

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The report by the Trust included research into Chartwell, Winston Churchill’s former home, and Cliveden House, the former home of the Astor family.

Dr Tarnya Cooper, Curatorial and Collections Director, explained when the report was first published that “it’s our job to research, interpret and openly share full and up-to-date information about our places.

“This includes information about colonialism and slavery where it is relevant. This is part of caring for our properties in a historically responsible and academically robust way.

“The work helps us all understand what’s gone before; now and for future generations.”

She added that the report was the “fullest account to date” of links between National Trust properties and historic colonialism and slavery.

Mr Parker came under fire after he described Black Lives Matter as a “human rights movement with no party-political affiliations” in a letter to a member.

Speaking at a meeting in November, Mr Parker said that the Trust was “not members of BLM”.

He added that he hoped members would come to see that “in no way the Trust has become a political organisation that has been taken over by a bunch of woke folk or anything of that nature”.

The deadline for applications to become new chairman was last Sunday. A successful candidate will be announced by the end of the year.

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