The chairman of the Post Office has stepped down amid ongoing tensions in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal.
Henry Staunton will depart from the role following a phone call with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch on Saturday, it is understood.
Mr Staunton only took up the post at the state-owned company in December 2022, following nine years as chairman of WH Smith.
He had been tasked with leading the board of directors as the business reels from the fallout of what has been described as 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.
Mr Staunton’s departure comes 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 the outlet that Mr Staunton’s exit was not directly related to the Horizon scandal itself.
The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for comment.
