Rishi Sunak’s family has moved out of Downing Street in the wake of the controversy over the tax affairs of his wife, Akshata Murty.
Removal vans visited Downing Street, where the family occupies the flat above No 10, to move the Sunaks’ belongings to their home in Kensington. Sunak is expected to spend weekdays in Downing Street, while returning to his family in Kensington at weekends.
The move has fuelled speculation that Sunak wanted to remove his family from the spotlight of life in Downing Street following the furore over his wife’s tax status. However, his allies have said the move was related to wanting to be closer to their elder daughter’s primary school during her final term before moving to boarding school.
There have been reports that Sunak was considering quitting his job over the weekend over the focus on his family’s finances. “He was considering whether he could withstand his family taking this any more,” a source told the Sunday Times.
He gave an interview to the Sun last week hitting out at “smears” against his wife and criticising the focus on her tax affairs.
However, Murty released a statement on Friday saying she would in future pay UK tax on worldwide earnings from the IT firm founded by her billionaire father.
