Rishi Sunak declares wife's shares after financial interests row

Rishi Sunak has faced questions over shares held by his wife, Akshata Murty

Rishi Sunak has referenced his wife's shares in a childcare firm in his published list of financial interests, after a conflict-of-interests row.

The PM has faced questions over Akshata Murty's shares in Koru Kids, a childcare agency which could benefit from a policy in last month's Budget.

He faces a parliamentary probe after not mentioning them during a committee appearance last month.

On Tuesday, Labour called on him to "come clean" and publish his interests.

Downing Street resisted the call to publish them on Tuesday, saying it had no plans to publish Mr Sunak's interests separately to the wider list of interests for all ministers.

It said that work to compile the list, which is managed by the PM's ethics adviser, was "ongoing".

The full list for all ministers, including Mr Sunak, has now been published less than 24 hours later, for the first time in nearly a year.

A Labour spokesperson, however, said the PM had shown a "complete lack of transparency" - and the whole process for financial declarations needed to be reviewed.

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The government has faced criticism about the late publication of the list, which and is meant to be published twice a year but was last updated 11 months ago.

The position of ethics adviser was unfilled during a six-month period last year, before current holder Sir Laurie Magnus was appointed in December.

On Monday, Downing Street said Mr Sunak had told government officials about the shares during routine conflict-of-interest declarations, which are not made public.

The PM's spokeswoman declined to say when he declared the shares to officials when asked by reporters on Wednesday, citing the confidentiality of the process.

The shares were not mentioned in the latest publicly available version of the list, published in May 2022 when Mr Sunak was chancellor.

This public version of the list only includes financial and other interests considered "directly relevant" to ministers' roles, including those held by close family members.

Ministers' interests

The updated version, published shortly before Mr Sunak appeared at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, now references the shares as part of a "number of direct shareholdings" held by his wife.

It also revealed that deputy PM Dominic Raab has paid for lawyers out of his own pocket to represent him during the ongoing inquiry into allegations he bullied civil servants in previous government roles, which he denies.

Jeremy Hunt, who became chancellor in October, has also updated his list to include his stake in a property company he owns jointly with his wife, and half-shares in a holiday house in Italy and an office in London. He has previously published these interests in his separate register as an MP.

The updated list also shows that eight government ministers, including Mr Hunt and Mr Sunak, hold financial interests in so-called blind trusts or management arrangements, with a further two in the process of setting them up.

These arrangements, where management of assets is placed in the hands of advisers in a bid to avoid conflicts of interest, are regularly used by ministers with significant financial interests.

Standards probe

Companies House records indicate Ms Murty has held shares in Koru Kids since 2019, and are mentioned in filings as recent as last month.

Her shareholding was not mentioned in several previous versions of the list of ministers' interests published whilst Mr Sunak was a minister at the Treasury, and then subsequently chancellor.

When asked why that was, the PM's spokeswoman said previous decisions about what to include were made by past ethics advisers - and overruling them could affect future declarations made by others.

On Monday, it emerged Mr Sunak is being investigated by Parliament's standards commissioner, after not mentioning the shares during a committee appearance last month where he was questioned about the new childcare policy in the Budget.

When asked by a Labour MP whether he had any interests to declare, he replied: "No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way."

The MPs' rulebook says they should be "open and frank" about "relevant" financial interests when speaking in Parliament.

A pilot of bonuses for childminders was announced in the Budget on 15 March as part of the government's overhaul of childcare. Koru Kids is one of six childminder agencies listed in government guidance on childminder agencies.

Under the scheme, childminders who sign up to the profession will be paid "incentive payments" of £600.

This would rise to £1,200 for those who join through an agency, meaning the pilot might generate more business for companies such as Koru Kids.