Rishi Sunak’s ministerial interests published following launch of Commons probe

Rishi Sunak’s list of ministerial interests has been published following a row over whether he was transparent enough in declaring shares his wife holds in a childcare agency.

The register, compiled by the prime minister’s independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus, was released on Wednesday after opposition parties piled on the pressure.

The calls for greater transparency came after an investigation was launched into Mr Sunak by parliament’s standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg.

Downing Street confirmed that the investigation related to shares held by Akshata Murty, Mr Sunak’s wife, in a childcare agency that is set to benefit from last month’s budget.

Mr Sunak subsequently wrote to MPs to confirm that he had lodged the interest in the then-unpublished ministerial register as is required – but he stands accused of failing to declare it when he was first asked by MPs on the liaison committee last month.

In the register – which was published just moments before prime minister’s questions on Wednesday – a footnote confirmed that his wife holds shares in Koru Kids, one of the six childcare agencies listed on the government’s website that welcomed Jeremy Hunt’s announcement to offer cash incentives to childminders.

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The footnote read: “As the prime minister set out in his letter to the chair of the liaison committee on 4 April 2023, this includes the minority shareholding that his wife has in relation to the company, Koru Kids.

“The guide to the categories of interest… sets out the independent adviser’s approach to the inclusion of interests declared in relation to spouses, partners and close family members within the list.”

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The list of ministerial interests was last updated in May 2022 – 11 months ago. The register is supposed to be published every six months for reasons of transparency.

Rules governing the register of ministerial interests say that MPs who are ministers should state any relevant interests connected to spouses, partners or close family members.

However, Sir Laurie’s document did not contain an exhaustive list of Ms Murty’s interests, arguing that a balance needed to be struck between any potential conflict of interests and the right to privacy.

“While there may be interests of close family of a minister that might be thought to give rise to a conflict with their ministerial responsibilities, it is also important to consider their right to a degree of privacy over their affairs,” Sir Laurie said.

“Accordingly, interests which are not directly relevant or on consideration do not in fact give rise to a conflict, but may give rise to public comment, are not within the scope of the list.”

He added: “The list is not a register of interests and does not therefore include every interest that a minister has declared in relation to themselves and their family members.

“To do so would represent an excessive degree of intrusion into the private affairs of ministers that would be unreasonable, particularly in respect of their family members.”

Yesterday Sir Keir Starmer urged Mr Sunak to publish his and his wife’s details, telling him not to “hide behind the process” and “come clean”.

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While the standards commissioner did not go into specifics when he opened his investigation, he did cite paragraph 6 of the MPs’ code of conduct, which states that members “must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees, and in any communications with ministers, members, public officials or public office holders”.

The allegation against Mr Sunak is that while he may have declared the interest in the now-published ministerial interests list, he did not flag it when first quizzed by MPs.

During the session, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell pointed out that six private childcare agencies were set to benefit from the budget, which confirmed a pilot of incentive payments of £600 for childminders joining the profession – a sum that doubles to £1,200 if they sign up through an agency.

Ms McKinnell asked Mr Sunak what the logic was in making the bonus twice as much for childminders who sign up through private agencies pressed him on whether he had any interests to declare.

Mr Sunak replied: “No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”

Mr Greenberg is currently investigating seven MPs for possible breaches of Commons rules, of which Mr Sunak is one.