‘Difficulties’ in Post Office governance led me to sack chairman, says Business Secretary

The Business Secretary has defended her decision

Kemi Badenoch has said she was forced to intervene over “difficulties” with Post Office governance by sacking its former chairman as the company reels from the Horizon IT scandal.

The Business Secretary would not be drawn on whether there will be other departures from the board of directors after Henry Staunton stepped down from the role on Saturday.

She told broadcasters there needed to be a “change of personnel” and it “just wasn’t working” as the company remains under heightened scrutiny over the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.

The sacking comes after the Horizon scandal was dramatised in an ITV series.

“It was very sad that we had to come to this conclusion… and one of the things that I think is important when we do need to have a change of personnel is that we don’t hound the people or go after them,” Ms Badenoch said.

“The issues that the Post Office have go well beyond the Horizon scandal, so this wasn’t just about Horizon and the ongoing inquiry into the Post Office; it’s about the Post Office as an entity and the governance of it.

“There is a board, there have been disagreements across the board, and my view is that sometimes you just need a different person to deal with different issues," she told Sky News.

Mr Staunton stepped down as chairman of the state-owned business, having only been appointed in December 2022 following nine years as chairman of WH Smith.

More than 700 branch managers were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their branches.

Hundreds of subpostmasters and subpostmistresses are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.

A statutory inquiry into the saga is under way and renewed public anger following its dramatisation in ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office earlier this month.

Labour questioned the move to oust Mr Staunton at the weekend and said ministers must explain what had happened.

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC: “I mean, the person who’s going wasn’t actually there for the scandal, so there must be specific reasons why they don’t have confidence in that person going on.

“I think the public will want to know this is not just about one person, one chair being changed. The overall approach and the entire organisation is going to come to terms with the scale of this and put it right, and also fundamentally people want to see the subpostmasters exonerated and compensation got to them as soon as possible."

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