Lord Ara Darzi, a senior government adviser on the NHS, failed to declare shareholdings worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in multiple healthcare companies, raising concerns over transparency and conflicts of interest.
A Guardian investigation revealed that Darzi held shares and share options in four medical firms that were missing from his House of Lords register of interests. This omission occurred when Health Secretary Wes Streeting appointed him to lead a government review of the NHS, which ultimately recommended the abolition of NHS England.
Lord Darzi’s Undeclared Healthcare Investments
Darzi’s undeclared interests include:
• Evelo Biosciences: He held $500,000 in shares and $800,000 in share options while serving as a director until 2022. His lawyers claim he never converted these options into shares.
• Montai Health Inc: Darzi held shares in this molecular nutrition company since January 2022, exceeding the reportable threshold.
• Harbinger Health & YourBio Health: He had share options in both companies above the registrable £100,000 limit.
While shares in Evelo were publicly disclosed in US stock market filings, his financial interests in Montai, Harbinger, and YourBio were not previously available. His lawyers argue that the failure to register these assets was an “oversight,” and Darzi has since updated his entry in the Lords register.
House of Lords Transparency Rules & Expert Criticism
Peers in the House of Lords are required to declare any commercial interests exceeding £50,000 (until the threshold was raised to £100,000 in September 2023). Darzi’s Evelo share options had exceeded this threshold since 2018 but were not disclosed.
Dr. Jonathan Rose, a political integrity expert at De Montfort University, emphasized that “breaches of the rules are corrosive to the trust that the public should be able to have in parliament.” Given the lifetime appointments of Lords members, transparency is crucial to ensure public accountability.
Connections to Private Healthcare & the Life Sciences Industry
Lord Darzi has extensive ties to the private healthcare sector. He previously served as a non-executive director of NHS England (2020-2022) and currently chairs the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), which negotiates partnerships between the NHS and life science firms.
Darzi is also linked to Flagship Pioneering, a US venture capital firm that backed Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. He chairs its UK “health security initiative” and serves as a director at three Flagship-backed companies (Montai Health, Harbinger Health, and YourBio Health).
His report on the NHS, published in September 2023, highlighted a “major tilt towards technology” and the potential for life sciences to drive healthcare advancements—an industry in which he holds significant financial stakes.
Lord Darzi Responds to Shareholding Controversy
Darzi’s legal team insists that he had disclosed his interests to Health Secretary Wes Streeting before accepting the NHS review role. They also stated that Darzi took an unpaid leave of absence from Flagship Pioneering while conducting the investigation to prevent conflicts of interest.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson defended Darzi, calling him a “world-renowned cancer surgeon” who has dedicated his career to medical innovation.
However, Darzi acknowledged that his failure to register the shareholdings was an “oversight” and took immediate action to correct the mistake. His lawyers stated that he remains committed to ensuring transparency and maintaining the integrity of his work in the healthcare sector.
