Chris White spoke at the weekend at his Party conference and called for the Post Office to be turned into a mutual organisation, with a substantial share ownership by staff.

He also called for tighter regulation of the the Post Office’s competitors.

On the recent post office closures consultation he said: ‘This was simply dishonest. The consultation in St Albans was geographically illiterate. It was also apparent that any successful campaign to save a Post office was likely to be met by the closure of a different Post Office.’

He felt that the Essex County Council scheme under which local authorities took over post offices would mean little more than the problem being shifted from one area to another.