The wife of a former Scotland Office minister who criticised the oil and gas windfall tax holds thousands of shares in BP.

According to analysis of the energy giant’s shareholder register by the Guardian, David Duguid moved his shares into his spouse's name five years before his election.

The senior Conservative MP insists he has "followed the prevailing rules for reporting relevant financial interests.”

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Mr Duguid, the MP for Banff and Buchan has condemned the Energy Profit Levy brought in by the UK Government in Parliament four times since the beginning of last year.

He also voted against proposals to examine the impact of increasing such taxes.

His wife has more than 11,000 shares and would have received more than £2,000 in dividends last year. 

Parliamentary rules require MPs to declare the financial interests of family members and spouses where there could be considered a conflict of interest.

However, Mr Duguid has never publicly disclosed his wife’s financial interest in the House of Commons register.

Twice in parliament he has referenced that he worked in the sector for 25 years, including a decade at BP.

Mr Duguid was a junior minister in the Scotland Office under Boris Johnson between June 2020 and September 2021, and again, briefly, under Liz Truss in October 2022.

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Under the current system, MPs are required to declare any holdings in a company over £70,000.

For ministers, all interests held by themselves, their spouses and family members that could give rise to a conflict must be provided to the department’s permanent secretary.

The ministerial code states that ministers “must scrupulously avoid any danger of an actual or perceived conflict of interest between their ministerial position and their private financial interests”

A spokesperson for the MP said: “Mr Duguid followed the prevailing rules for reporting relevant financial interests.”