I recently re-joined the National Trust and I am greatly enjoying visiting the wonderful house and landscapes that they manage on our behalf.

Like many organisations they have “gone a bit woke” and some people are arguing that this is at best a distraction and at worst a neglect of its core mission. An organisation called Restore Trust put its own candidates up for election a few years ago.

The National Trust present management responded by changing the voting system to give a single “Quick Vote” button that allows members to vote for present directors and their resolutions with a single click. Anyone who want to vote for non-approved candidates or resolutions has to read mountains of paperwork. Since implementing this new system management has achieved a 100% win for their candidates and resolutions.

• it is clearly vote fixing by current management designed to keep them safely in place

The issue here is not whether you think that the current leadership is doing a good job or not but whether the management of one of the nation’s most important institutions should be allowed to gerrymander the voting process.

So what can be done?

I have used my votes to choose candidates from Restore Trust who seek to remove the Quick Vote system that fixes results.

It would be helpful if the mainstream media could expose this situation because while the National Trust does not have to respond to public opinion they are probably sensitive to their public image.