Head of the Post Office is pushed out by the government amid anger over firm's incompetent handling of theft scandal that led to workers - including those in Northern Ireland - being falsely accused and wrongly convicted

Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, spoke to Henry Staunton yesterday and issued a statement afterwards announcing he had gone.

It said: “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.

“The Post Office is rightfully under a heightened level of scrutiny at this time.

"With that in mind, I felt there was a need for new leadership, and we have parted ways with mutual consent.”

Mr Staunton has a background in high finance; he used to be a director of Legal & General and South Africa’s Standard Bank, as well as Ladbrokes bookmakers, and served on the boards of ITN and BSkyB.

He had been chairman of the Post Office since December 2022, when he was appointed by the then-Tory business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

Mr Staunton took over the role from Tim Parker (a businessman who had reportedly earned the nickname ‘the Prince of Darkness’ for his willingness to make swinging job cuts, according to the Daily Telegraph).

During both Mr Parker and Mr Staunton’s tenure, and that of CEO Rev Paula Vennells, the Post Office faced accusations – largely from UK magazine Private Eye – that its IT system (called Horizon, and built by Fujitsu) was malfunctioning.

The consequence of this faulty system was that it falsely stated that thousands of Post Office branch managers had been stealing money.

Some 900 or so were tried and convicted, with at least 20 of them hailing from Northern Ireland.

Among them was Lee Williamson of Portstewart, who was convicted of fraud by false representation offences and given an 18-month suspended sentence in 2014.

Charges were brought against him after an audit uncovered an alleged shortfall of £17,000.

He is now fighting to clear his name, and told the media earlier this month that the latest developments in the scandal had triggered a “rollercoaster” of emotions.

“The deck of cards was stacked in favour of the Post Office at all times,” he claimed.

“This past week has been a complete rollercoaster.

“Even watching the drama docuseries takes you right back to the bad times of dealing with the shortage.

“You’re trying to hold your emotions together so you don’t break down in front of your family, that’s where the anger comes in.

“But it has to be tempered so you don’t let it ruin your life.”

The Post Office initially denied the problems with its system, though it was later forced to acknowledge them.

The matter came to nationwide prominence thanks in large measure to an ITV drama called ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, broadcast earlier this month.

On January 10 this year, Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons: "This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history."