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

Rishi Sunak has declared the childcare agency his wife holds shares in as a financial interest as he is investigated over a possible breach of the rules.

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

The Prime Minister is under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog over claims he did not declare his wife’s shares in Koru Kids, a firm boosted by 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.

Come clean

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had urged Mr Sunak to “come clean” and publish his financial interests to clear up whether there has been 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.