The government is to begin searching for a new chairman of the Post Office even as it grapples with the £1bn-plus fallout from the IT scandal that left scores of postmasters wrongfully imprisoned.

Sky News has learnt that Tim Parker, who has chaired the state-owned company since 2015, will step down in the autumn.

According to a Post Office spokesman, he will leave at the end of his second term in the role, with much of his tenure shrouded in controversy.

Ministers are being forced to allocate funds to compensate hundreds of former postmasters, many of whom were falsely convicted of fraud and theft in one of Britain’s biggest-ever miscarriages of justice.

The eventual compensation bill has yet to be determined but is likely to be well over £1bn.

Mr Parker’s departure comes nearly a year after he stood down from the same post at the National Trust amid a political controversy.

The businessman earned the nickname ‘the prince of darkness’ for his cost-cutting zeal in previous corporate roles.

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He has also been chairman of Samsonite, the luggage manufacturer.

Post Office chiefs have come under intense pressure over their handling of the Horizon IT scandal, with Paula Vennells, the former chief executive, facing calls to hand back her CBE.

The organisation, which is managed by the government’s holding company, UKGI, is facing enormous strategic challenges amid rapid shifts in consumer behaviour.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “Tim Parker’s second term as chairman will conclude in the autumn with the Department of Business, as the shareholder of Post Office, conducting the search for his successor.

“The chairman is focused on helping the executive team reset the Post Office as a commercial retailer fulfilling a UK-wide social purpose as well as ensuring that full and fair compensation is paid to people affected by the historical Horizon IT scandal.”

The search for Mr Parker’s successor makes it the latest government-owned company or regulator to face a vacancy at the top.

Channel 4 has just installed Dawn Airey, the media executive, as its interim chair, while the broadcaster’s regulator, Ofcom, also has a temporary chair because of a hiatus in its appointment process.

Ofwat, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority are all also seeking new chairs.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment on Mr Parker’s exit.

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