Former PM Heath left £5m in will

Sir Edward made money from investments and writing

Former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath left more than £5m in his will, it has emerged.

Sir Edward, who died last July aged 89, bequeathed most of the £5,410,364 to a charitable foundation in his own name.

The will, drawn up in 2002, leaves only two legacies: £20,000 to his brother's widow and £2,500 to his housekeeper.

Sir Edward, a lifelong bachelor, was prime minister from 1970 to 1974. He retired from the Commons in 2001 after more than 50 years as an MP.

EEC entry

The will is more than 10 times the amount left by Sir Edward's successor in Number 10, Harold Wilson, who died in 1995, and is thought to be the most ever left by a British prime minister.

Sir Edward amassed much of his fortune from interests in merchant banking and writing books.

He claimed his greatest achievement was taking the UK into the European Economic Community - a decision which alienated him from many in his party.

He was a world-class yachtsman and an accomplished pianist and organist, famously keeping a baby grand piano in Downing Street.

Sir Edward was voted out of Downing Street in 1974 after calling an early election during a period of industrial strife when he posed the question: "Who governs?"

He lost the leadership of the Conservative Party to Margaret Thatcher the following year.

The primary aim of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation is to conserve his 18th Century home, Arundells, next to Salisbury Cathedral.