Keir Starmer has appointed Akshata Murty, the wife of Rishi Sunak, as a trustee of one of the UK’s leading museums.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport confirmed Murty as one of six new appointments at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
A spokesman for the department said they hoped she would bring her experience in both business and No 10 to the role.
“Akshata is passionate about education and the power of creativity to have positive effects on young people,” they said.
“With her husband, former prime minister Rishi Sunak, Akshata is a co-founder of The Richmond Project, a charity focused on enabling social mobility by breaking down barriers to numeracy. She is also a keen supporter of the UK’s veteran community.”
The Daily Telegraph reports that the role of trustee involves scrutinising and promoting the museum’s work, as well as seeking out chairmen to handle its day-to-day running.
Nigel Newton, the Bloomsbury publishing chief executive, Pedro Pina, a YouTube vice-president, and Andrew Keith, the retail veteran, are among the other trustees.
The lineup of new trustees is completed by broadcaster and author Mariella Frostrup and Radio 1 DJ Vick Hope.
Together with her husband, Murty is worth is an estimated £651m. The couple are thought to be splitting their time between the UK and the US, after Sunak, the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, announced he would be taking up a role at Stanford University.
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