Time for tea, a scone and jam and a good read, Obiter feels. It’s a little pause in the working day, and at this time of year provides the now-traditional chance to choke on the National Trust Council’s candidate election manifestos.
Obiter suspects the number of fellow Trust members among the Gazette’s readership is quite far from zero, so can assume some awareness of the politics that’s entered this election. In summary, while some candidates promise ‘a voice for marginalised people’, others think the Trust has ‘promoted a self-hating conception of history… a disaster comparable to the Dissolution of the Monasteries’.
This year, a self-identifying peacemaker has waded in – one ‘Jonathan Sumption, London’ is standing for election. ‘I am of course aware of current disputes about the Trusts mission,’ Jonathan writes, ‘which I regard as unfortunate, for they undermine its power for good.’
The answer is staring Trust voters (who got to page 19) in the face. ‘I would hope to heal current divisions,’ Jonathan says.
But when we get down to it, does Jonathan have any relevant experience? Yes, he says: ‘I am a former Justice of the Supreme Court and… I have also restored a significant historical monument in France and another (less significant) in England.’
One should do a cursory check of these things, of course. So Obiter did enter the phrase ‘Jonathan Sumption historical monument’ into a popular search engine. This led straight to his designation of Covid pandemic restrictions as a ‘monument of collective hysteria and folly’. Perhaps this is a latter day case of folk who seek a monument looking around them.
Postal votes should reach the Trust by 3 November. 37 other candidates are available.
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