The sister-in-law of an English woman who died and left her fortune to the Conservative Party is crying foul, saying the entire family was liberal-minded and the political betrayal smacked of “spite.”
Violet Baker, 85, inherited her wealth from her husband in 2009. When she died, in April 2013, one of her last wishes — which just came to light — was to pass along the $1.3 million to the conservative political group, United Press International reported.
It’s the largest bequest ever awarded a political party in Britain. But sister-in-law Elsie Clark says the donation is bunk. Ms. Baker was never politically active, and even if she had been, her political alliances would have been with the liberals — like the others in her family, Ms. Clark charged, in the UPI report.
“To do what she’s done with it — she’s done that for spite,” Ms. Clark said, in the news wire. “All that money was left to her, and she didn’t want any of us to get our hands on it. She was a wicked woman.”
A spokesman for the Conservative Party, meanwhile, said Ms. Baker’s deathbed wishes were clear and irrefutable.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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