Akshata Murty: Rishi Sunak's wife gives up shares in childcare firm

Rishi Sunak's wife has given away her shares in a childcare company that was at the heart of a conflict-of-interest row last year.

The prime minister apologised for not declaring Akshata Murty's shares in Koru Kids after appearing before MPs.

It followed an investigation that found he inadvertently broke parliamentary rules on declaring financial interests.

Downing Street confirmed Ms Murty donated her shares in the firm to charity last month.

Rachel Carrell, chief executive and founder of Koru Kids, said Ms Murty had believed in its childcare "mission" but "this message was lost in the media attention surrounding this investment".

"As we move into 2024, we need to ensure that school-age children are not left behind in any new plans that materialise from the government's levelling up plans for childcare, without any distractions for our business," she added.

Ms Murty also wound up her start-up investment firm, Catamaran Ventures UK, last month and donated the shares to charity.

Companies House records indicate Ms Murty has held shares in Koru Kids, a London-based childcare provider, since 2019.

Her shareholding was thrust into the spotlight last year, after Mr Sunak failed to mention it when he was quizzed about the government's childcare policies at a Commons committee in March 2023.

Koru Kids was one of various childcare agencies that stood to potentially benefit from a childminder bonus scheme announced at that month's Budget.

The rulebook for MPs says they should be "open and frank" about "relevant" financial interests when speaking in Parliament, including those of family members.

It led to an investigation by Parliament's standards commissioner, who concluded he should have made the MPs aware of his wife's connection to the company.

He concluded that the prime minister had confused parliamentary transparency requirements with ministerial ones, but added that the rule breach "appears to have been inadvertent".

Mr Sunak had argued that he had disclosed the shares to civil servants, and he was not required to put them on his public ministerial list of interests as they were not directly relevant to his job as PM.

In letters to the commissioner, he said his wife only held around 1% the company's shares and had no decision-making role.

But he later accepted he should have more "explicitly" declared the shares in correspondence with the committee after his appearance.