One of the Scott Trust's most crucial functions is to appoint the editor of the Guardian, as well as that of the Observer and Manchester Evening News.
When a new Guardian editor is appointed, the chair of the Trust gives them the following instruction: to conduct the paper ’on the same lines and in the same spirit as heretofore’. This phrase first appeared in the will of John Edward Taylor, the younger son of the Manchester Guardian’s founder and the man from whom CP Scott bought the newspaper.
‘As heretofore’ might seem rather vague, but it is well understood by anyone who has a long association with and full understanding of the Guardian. It means that the editor has both a responsibility to preserve the paper’s heritage of independent liberal journalism, and the freedom to move with the times to achieve that goal.