Rishi Sunak mentions wife’s childcare shares in delayed register of interests

The delayed list of ministerial interests published yesterday contained for the first time a reference to “a number of direct shareholdings” owned by Akshata Murty.

The Prime Minister’s wife held shares in Koru Kids as far back as March 2019, before Mr Sunak entered Downing Street as chancellor, according to documents lodged with Companies House.

Mr Sunak is under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog over claims he broke the MPs’ code of conduct by not declaring the firm that was boosted by a key policy in the Budget.

His team insisted he had followed the rules by declaring it as a ministerial interest, rather than to the Commons.

But the list of ministers’ interests had not been updated for nearly a year until its publication shortly before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had urged Mr Sunak to “come clean” and publish his financial interests to clear up whether there is any conflict of interest.

Under the section for relevant interests held by a spouse or close relative, Mr Sunak’s entry includes his wife’s venture capital company Catamaran Ventures and unnamed “direct shareholdings”.

A note adds that these include her “minority shareholding” in Koru Kids, which Mr Sunak declined to mention when questioned by MPs last month over why one of his policies specifically benefited childminders who sign up through private agencies.

Previous lists have mentioned Catamaran Ventures but never referenced Ms Murty’s other shareholdings. The new register does not state when Mr Sunak first mentioned Koru Kids to officials.

Sir Laurie Magnus, who was appointed by Mr Sunak as ethics adviser in December after the post was left vacant by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, said he was content any conflicts of interest “have been, or are in the process of being” resolved.

“I am content that any actual, potential and perceived conflicts have been, or are in the process of being, resolved, but it is important that ministers and their permanent secretaries remain alert in the context of their respective portfolios if ministers’ interests change,” he wrote in his report.

Downing Street declined to say if a mitigation has been put in place to alleviate the perception of a conflict of interest over the shares.

The Prime Minister’s press secretary would not say when exactly Mr Sunak first declared Koru Kids, but suggested it was years ago.

“We have been very clear that the Prime Minister has taken his obligation to declare everything very seriously, he has done that for a number of years,” she said.

“Three independent advisers have reviewed those declarations so one would infer by that, that those declarations – including that of Koru Kids – have been made for a number of years.”