Post Office chairman resigns amid row with Government over Horizon scandal
The chairman of the Post Office has resigned amid ongoing tensions in the wake of the Horizon scandal, which saw hundreds of postmasters wrongly convicted of theft.
Henry Staunton will step down following a phone call with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch on Saturday.
They agreed to “part ways with mutual consent” and an interim will be appointed “shortly,” the Department for Business and Trade said.
Mr Staunton stepping down comes down amid frustration in Whitehall over the company’s governance, including a row over the prospective appointment of a new senior independent director, Sky News reported.
The Government reportedly wants to hire a Whitehall insider to the role while Mr Staunton and a number of colleagues are said to have favoured Andrew Darfoor, one of the company’s existing non-executive directors.
Insiders told Sky News that Mr Staunton’s exit was not directly related to the Horizon scandal itself.
A Government spokesperson said: “In a phone call earlier today, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and Henry Staunton, chair of Post Office Limited (POL), agreed to part ways with mutual consent.
“An interim will be appointed shortly and a recruitment process for a new chair will be launched in due course, in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.”
When Mr Staunton took up the post at the company in December 2022, he was tasked with leading the board of directors as it reels from the fallout of the scandal, which has been dubbed the UK’s biggest miscarriage of justice.
More than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were prosecuted by the Post Office after faulty accounting software Horizon made it look as though money was missing from their shops.
The saga prompted an outcry across the country after it was dramatised in the ITV series Mr Bates Vs The Post Office earlier this month.
Hundreds of subpostmasters are awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.
