The Guardian is publishing a list of 41 MPs who own, or have an interest in, shares in 17 publicly listed companies.
The vast majority of these shareholdings have not been publicly disclosed until now.
Parliamentary transparency rules require the disclosure of a shareholding in any single company worth more than £70,000. The majority of the shares identified are below this threshold.
Nonetheless the Guardian is publishing the full list of MPs and their shareholdings so the public has a greater view of the financial interests of their elected representatives.
In some cases, the MP’s interest is an indirect one as the shares are held by members of their close family. Where this is the case it is noted below. This published list does not include shareholdings that MPs have disposed of.
Q&A
What are the transparency rules for MPs’ shareholdings?
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MPs must register their earnings and financial interests. These registers are published and allow the public to see any potential conflicts of interest.
However, MPs need only register holdings they have in a company, including if it is jointly owned, when their share is more than 15% or when the holding is worth more than £70,000 as of the beginning of April.
If a shareholding is below the threshold but might “reasonably be thought by others to influence a member’s actions”, it must be registered.
There is no requirement to register dividend income.
Separately MPs must declare interests that could reasonably be thought to influence their parliamentary actions such as speaking in a debate. In these instances they are expected to declare indirect financial interests including those of a family member.
Ministers are required to disclose all their interests “which might be thought to give rise to a conflict” to their permanent secretary. This includes the interests of close family members. There is no threshold for disclosure. The independent adviser on ministers’ interests determines which interests need to be declared publicly.
All share valuations have been taken from the close of the markets on 30 June. Shareholding data is from registers received between February and May.
Reporting team: Henry Dyer, Sam Cutler, Mario Savarese and Dominic Kendrick
