Oliver joined the Sunday Times at the end of 2007, having previously been deputy political editor of the Mail on Sunday.

He declined to reveal details of his next move, but sources close to Oliver revealed that he would be ‘taking up a job in the world of corporate PR’. He is not expected to start the new role until September at the earliest.

Although the full details of Oliver’s move in to PR remain under wraps, he will become the third Sunday Times political editor to take this route in the last decade.

In 2001, Michael Prescott quit as Sunday Times political editor to join Weber Shandwick. David Cracknell succeeded Prescott as political editor at the Murdoch title. In late 2007, he left for a job with financial PR agency FD.

More recently The Sun's political editor George Pascoe Watson signed up with public affairs specialist Portland.