Ex-MP Frank Cook left children no money in will The late MP's son Andrew Cook, 47, said that he and his three sisters no longer have any contact with Mrs Baldinger, 70, after their relationship with her became "strained" in the year between Mr Cook's diagnosis with lung cancer and his death last January. He said: "He was pretty much home-bound for the last year. Sam would only let us in when she felt like she wanted to. It was kind of strained. He added: "I was the last one from the family to speak to her and that was the Saturday after the funeral. That is her doing. Several weeks ago a box of Cook's belongings was sent to his children, but "there was nothing meaningful there" and its contents "could not have been worth more than £30," his son, a health and safety adviser and former Army sergeant, said. Cook - who was an MP for 27 years, most of it spent on the backbenches - was deselected by his local Labour Party in 2008. However, he stood as an independent in the general election two years later, coming fifth behind the BNP. At the end of his career, he became caught up in the MPs" expenses scandal after The Sunday Telegraph revealed in 2009 that he had claimed back the cost of a £5 donation at a Battle of Britain memorial service. The report was particularly embarrassing both because Cook was an official supporter of the campaign to commemorate Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who commanded 11 Group Fighter Command, RAF, at the Battle of Britain, and because he was a former member of the Commons defence select committee. He admitted the claim was "quite unjustified." It also emerged that he had claimed for claimed for carpet underlay, a universal saw, wall hangings and a swivel cleaner, which were said to be for his office in Stockton but were purchased in the United States, the home of his second wife. Cook had also used public funds to pay his wife more than £6,000 from Commons allowances, submitting invoices for "research, translation and networking" to an organisation called Out of Laos based at her Arizona residential address. He later lost a libel case against The Sunday Telegraph in 2011 over its initial coverage. The resulting legal costs reportedly saw his estate reduced from £769,115 to £336,688. Mrs Baldinger could not be reached for comment on Saturday.