Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over whether he failed to properly declare an interest.
The commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, announced on Monday that he is investigating a possible failure by the prime minister to declaration of interest, which is thought to be related to his wife's shares in a childcare agency.
Sunak has been criticised for not mentioning his wife's links to a company which benefited from a pilot of incentive payments for new childminders in the Spring Budget, as reported by the i.
Akshata Murphy is a shareholder in the agency Koru Kids – a link Sunak did not mention when questioned by MPs last month, while the agency is one of six private providers being consulted on the pilot scheme.
This interest was not listed by Sunak in his register of members’ or ministerial interests.
The PM has written to the Liaison Committee to say he did declare his family's link to Koru Kids to the Cabinet Office in the proper way.
In the letter, Sunak wrote: "I note that there has been some media coverage relating to the minority stake my wife has in relation to the company Koru Kids.
"I was being asked questions by the committee in my capacity as Prime Minister. I would like to clarify for the parliamentary record that this interest has rightly been declared to the Cabinet Office."
Responding to the standard commissioner's announcement, No 10 spokesperson said: "We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest."
The standard commissioner website states the investigation began on Thursday, 13 April.
This article first appeared on our sister publication PoliticsHome.