Sunak investigated over wife’s interest in UK childcare firm

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under investigation by the United Kingdom’s parliamentary watchdog over a possible failure to declare shares his wife holds in an agency benefitting from a recent budget, a parliamentary watchdog has disclosed.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg on Thursday launched the probe into shares Akshata Murty holds in childcare agency Koru Kids, according to an update given to members of Parliament who returned Monday from Easter break.

The rules demand that “members must always be open and frank in declaring any relevant interest in any proceeding of the House or its committees”.

Parliament requires members to disclose financial interests within four weeks of something they said, or actions they took that may have been influenced by a financial interest.

A Sunak spokesperson has said the prime minister did not make a declaration as a member of Parliament but had recorded a “ministerial interest”, the equivalent disclosure for government ministers.

‘Come clean’

The government’s budget announced last month includes a massive expansion of free childcare for working families with children from 9 months to 4 years old. The plan includes financial incentives for people who joined the childcare profession and doubles the incentive if it was done through a private agency.

Murty, Sunak’s wife, has shares in Koru Kids, which is listed on a government website as one of six such agencies. The organisation praised the new incentives in the budget as “great”.

Sunak was asked to “come clean” about his family’s financial interests last month after being grilled by members of Parliament over why the childcare policy favoured private agencies.

When asked if he had any interests to declare, Sunak did not mention his wife’s shares.

“No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way,” he said.

At the time, Sunak’s press secretary said his interests would be included in an update of ministers’ interests in May.

Earlier this month, Sunak wrote to the parliamentary committee that questioned him to say he wanted to clarify that “this interest has rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office”.

Sunak promised “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” when he took office in October.

Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the failure to update ministers’ interests since last May had “left a transparency black hole” that enabled Sunak and his appointees “to dodge proper scrutiny of their affairs”.