Commissioner Finds Sunak Failed to Declare Wife’s Financial Interest in Childcare Company

Chancellor Rishi Sunak with his wife Akshata Murty (Ian West/PA)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak failed to properly declare his wife’s financial interest in a childcare company set to benefit from government policy.

Mr. Sunak has done so “inadvertently” and his failure to declare arose out of “confusion,” said the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg.

The prime minister wrote to Mr. Greenberg, apologising for the confusion on his part, and said he was pleased that the matter had been concluded by way of rectification.

The inquiry was initially opened in April after a complaint that Mr. Sunak had failed to declare a relevant interest when giving evidence to the Liaison Committee in March.

During the session, Labour MP Catherine McKinnell asked the prime minister about the government scheme for increasing the number of childminders.

Under the scheme, childminders who sign up as an individual would receive a £600 bonus, but if they sign up through one of six private childcare agencies, they would get a £1,200 bonus.

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Mr. Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, holds shares in one of the six childminding agencies selected by the government, Koru Kids.

When asked by Ms. McKinnell whether he had anything to declare on the matter, Mr. Sunak responded:

“No. All my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”

While the prime minister said he didn’t consider his wife’s shareholding to meet the test of relevance, Mr. Greenberg concluded the opposite, in accordance with the parliamentary Code of Conduct (pdf).

“It is my view that you should have declared your wife’s interest in Koru Kids Ltd. to the Liaison Committee on March 28, 2023 and that by failing to do so you 15 breached Rule 6 of the Code,” Mr. Greenberg told the prime minister in a letter.

Parliamentary rules require members to be open in declaring any relevant interest during the House of Commons proceedings. This would include not just the registered interests of the prime minister, but also the interests of his partner and family members.

This means that while Mr. Sunak is not a shareholder in Koru Kids, his wife’s shareholding in the company obliges the prime minister to “draw attention” to this interest when questioned during parliamentary discussions.

Mr. Greenberg concluded that the prime minister had confused the concepts of registration and declaration of interests, concluding the inquiry with the “rectification procedure”—a process used to correct minor failures to declare interests.

Responding to the outcome of the inquiry, Ms. McKinnell said that the prime minister has not lived up to his promise of bringing “integrity & accountability” to the office.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Labour MP said that Mr. Sunak failed to properly declare financial interests and to correct the record as soon as possible when asked to do so.

“After the damage caused by successive Conservative prime ministers and government ministers behaving as though the rules do not apply to them, this is a significant ruling that now needs to ensure greater transparency from government in relation to relevant financial interests,” Ms. McKinnell said.

Upon the completion of the inquiry, Mr. Sunak’s press secretary said that the prime minister “takes seriously his responsibilities to register and declare all relevant interests.”

The prime minister’s personal and family wealth came under scrutiny as he assumed the position of chancellor in 2020. Mr. Sunak has been reported to benefit from tax haven trusts in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

The prime minister’s wife, who owns £700 million in shares of the Indian IT giant Infosys, founded by her father, came under pressure in 2022 after it emerged that her non-domiciled status meant she didn’t have to pay UK tax on income earned abroad.

Ms. Murty subsequently announced that she would start paying UK tax to relieve political pressure on her husband.