Two of the 30 members attending cabinet hold a formal role in a charity, according to analysis conducted by Civil Society News.
The two with a formal role in a charity are Alister Jack, the secretary of state for Scotland and Lord True, the leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy seal.
Jack is an unpaid director of River Annan Trust, a Scottish charity that promotes conservation in the area. He was formerly chairman.
Lord True is a trustee of the Roman Catholic charity Sir Harold Hood’s Charitable Trust. So is his wife, Lady True.
The description of its charitable objectives read: “For such Roman Catholic charitable purposes as the trustees shall, in their absolute discretion and from time to time, think fit.”
Recent roles at charities
Two other members attending cabinet also recently held a formal role in a charity.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is the founding trustee of Patient Safety Watch, a charity that has been scrutinised for its high CEO pay and risks of conflict of interest. However, last month he was removed as a trustee of the charity and director of the eponymous company.
Hunt was also a trustee and director of Nyumbani UK and Hotcourses Foundation, a charity that provides education to children affected by HIV in Kenya, before being removed from both last month. Mike Elms, his former business partner, is still a trustee of the charity, as is David Grunberg, who is also a trustee of Patient Safety Watch.
Meanwhile, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden’s register of interests say he is a patron of the Peace Hospice in Watford (registered in 2016).
However, the hospice charity told Civil Society News that he stopped being a patron there “many years ago”.
Comparison to Truss’ cabinet
Sunak's predecessor Liz Truss had similar number of cabinet members with formal charity roles.
Those who had a formal role in Truss' cabinet were Lord True, Jack and former business secretary Jacob Rees Mogg.
Rees Mogg is a trustee of the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Oxford Foundation and the Oxford Literary and Debating Union Trust.
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