A museum group has been called “woke” after paying its former boss £50,000 for “injured feeling” in a £325,000 settlement.
David Anderson, who previously said Britain was not “great” and branded the Brexit vote “collective delusional madness", resigned as director-general of National Museum Wales (NMW) in March.
He was criticised during his 13-year tenure for displaying placards from Black Lives Matter protests and was also accused of “censoring” a portrait of Battle of Waterloo hero Sir Thomas Picton.
Chiefs at NMW reached a settlement agreement with the former school teacher after Anderson threatened to bring a tribunal claim.
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Anderson was paid £325,698, including £50,000 in tax-free compensation for “injury to his feelings”.
A total of £225,698 was paid to cover his salary and pension between November 2021 and September 2024.
The remaining cash came from up to £30,000 in expenses and a £20,000 tax-free termination payment for “loss of office”.
Despite the payout, a report into the arrangement found that Welsh Auditor General Adrian Compton was “unable to conclude as to whether National Museum of Wales and its trustees fully complied with the requirements of charity law”.
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David Anderson previously served as director general of the National Museum of Wales
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Compton expressed concerns that there was “no evidence” that NMW “took advice on the likelihood of success of a claim in the employment tribunal, risks and likely value of the claim”.
He added that he was “unable to satisfy myself” that the trustees had “discharged their legal responsibility to make sound and informed decisions in the best interests of National Museum of Wales”.
It is not clear what forced the dispute which preceded Anderson’s exit.
However, there was speculation about a rift with trustees over whether the museum group should become more “commercial”.
The National Slate Museum in North Wales
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National Museum Wales last year received £28million from the Welsh Government to run its institutions.
Major attractions such as the National Museum in Cardiff, the National Slate Museum and the National Wool Museum are included in the group.
Compton has since taken on a new two-day-a-week role as emeritus fellow of NMW combined with being a visiting professor at Cardiff University.
The group has stressed that trustees “always acted under legal guidance”.
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton
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A spokesman for NMW, who said the organisation had “not broken any laws in relation to financial regulations set out by the Charity Commission”, claimed the issues highlighted by the auditor had arisen during a “challenging time” and was unable to comment on matters involving current or former staff due to the confidential nature of legal agreements.
However, he confirmed the term “injury to feelings” related to “standard headings used in both settlement of internal disputes and tribunal claims”.
Conor Holohan, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: “Hard-pressed Welsh taxpayers will be shocked that they are funding massive pay-outs to a moaning museum boss.”
The Welsh Government said it was “aware” of the concerns but that it would “not be appropriate” to comment on issues at an “arm's length body”.
