Who is Henry Staunton? Why former Post Office chair was sacked

Henry Staunton is set to appear before the Commons Business and Trade Committee tomorrow.

The controversial former Post Office executive is set to answer questions from MPs on the current progress in terms of compensating the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Mr Staunton is set to give evidence alongside current Post Office chief executive Nick Read and other former subpostmasters including Alan Bates.

Mr Bates, who banded together with 500 other postmasters in 2019 to win a landmark legal victory with a compensation payout of £58m, inspired the recent ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Mr Staunton has been a lightning rod for controversy recently, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch recently levied a string of accusations against the former Post Office chairman after he claimed he was told to delay payments to wrongfully accused postmasters.

According to the Government, the committee hearing will seek “to shed light on the issues in the various schemes to ensure fair and fast compensation for victims”.

Tomorrow’s hearing is only the latest chapter in the sprawling Post Office scandal. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were wrongfully convicted of stealing money from their branches due to faults in an IT system called Horizon, which was developed by Japanese firm Fujitsu.

Who is Henry Staunton?

Mr Staunton had a prolific business career, well before he was appointed chair of Post Office Limited in December 2022.

He’s perhaps best known for overseeing the merger of TV firms Granada and Carlton, which resulted in ITV plc in December 2003. He was the chairman of WHSmith for nine years.

Mr Staunton also served on the boards of BSkyB, the parent company of Sky News, and retailer New Look. He’s also served on the boards of finance firm Legal & General, magazine firm EMAP and betting firm Ladbrokes.

He was appointed to the role of Post Office chairman in September 2023, by Ms Badenoch, to lead the business into the future, as well as “working to right the past wrongs of the Horizon IT dispute.”

Why was he sacked from the Post Office?

Mr Staunton was removed from his post in January 2024 following a disagreement with Ms Badenoch.

In a statement, she said that he had “parted ways with mutual consent”.

The row kicked off after Mr Staunton alleged in an interview with The Sunday Times, that he had been advised by senior civil servants to delay the compensation due to be paid to victims of the Horizon scandal so the Government would be hit with the lowest possible financial liability ahead of the next election.

The business leader also alleged that he had been advised to write to the Justice Secretary to suggest few Horizon convictions had been overturned because the subpostmasters “were guilty as charged”.

Ms Badenoch took to X, formerly Twitter, to vehemently deny the claims by Mr Staunton, calling the interview “full of lies” regarding the circumstances surrounding his dismissal.

The MP alleged that Mr Staunton was investigated over bullying allegations, and categorised his statements as a way to “seek revenge”.

The battle of words between the two figures has also drawn significant criticism from some, who say it is distracting from the real issue.

Baroness Wheatcroft, a former Conservative, decried the row as a “deeply embarrassing” political sideshow.

The peer said that “destroying the reputation” of Mr Staunton is a “very dangerous thing to do”.