Retired nurse Joan Edwards ‘would not be happy’ her £500k will had been used to fund political parties

A neighbour and friend of retired nurse Joan Edwards who left £500k in her will to the Government said she “would not be happy” her money had been used to fund the coalition parties.

Roger Dunleavy, 71, lived across the road from Miss Edwards and knew her for over 40 years, and had no clue about her huge savings and did not know she was political.

He said despite her wealth the “kind, good old stick” lived a very simple life – watching a small TV, using her mum’s furniture and going to bed early.

Roger said: “I didn’t know she had that much money, and I knew her very well. It was never really something she talked about.

“But if she came back and found out it was being spent by political parties on things like pamphlets, leaflets and campaigns, then she would not be happy.

“She never talked about being political and never talked about who she voted for. The money should go to a children’s hospital.

“Her life was as a children’s nurse and that’s where I think she would want it. It was a lot of money. If a man had worked all is life he would not have made that much.

“I heard she made it on shares. But she did not have any children so had no one to give it to. She kept herself to herself.

“The only times she went out was to go to church with her friends or go and have tea at a Christian centre.

“Her bedroom was her own retreat, she would go to bed early and spend her time there.
She never really spent any money.

“She had a small TV, but all of her furniture was her mothers. I would sometimes go round and cut her hedges.

“She would never let me do it for nothing, she would always give me some money for it. She really was kind. A good old stick.”

The treasury said Miss Edwards’ legacy would go towards paying off the country’s national debt.

But with the UK currently £1,377.4 billion in the red, her £520,000 will covers just six minutes of INTEREST incurred by the debt.

A spokesperson for Davis Wood solicitors, who handled her will, said: “We confirm that we acted as executors of the late Joan Edwards. The will was drafted by a solicitor at Davis Wood in 2001.

“At the time of the instruction received from the late Miss Edwards, the solicitor specifically checked with Miss Edwards about the unusual nature of her proposed request and it was confirmed by Miss Edwards at the time of her instructions that her estate was to be left to which ever political party formed the government at the date of her death.”