Steph Booth, the widow of actor Tony Booth, was left reliant on Universal Credit after his death in 2017, following years of mounting care costs that drained the couple's savings.
Career and family life
Tony Booth was best known for playing Mike Rawlins in 52 episodes of the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. He also appeared in five episodes of Coronation Street, first as Malcolm Wilkinson and later as Charles Halliday, and in one episode of Emmerdale.
The actor was married four times and had eight daughters by five women. One of those daughters, Cherie, went on to marry former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Cherie and her sister Lyndsey were born to Booth and his first wife, Gale Howard.
Later life and health struggles
In later life, his Coronation Street co-star Pat Phoenix, known as Elsie Tanner on the cobbles, cared for him after a near-fatal fire at his flat in 1979. The couple married just seven days before Phoenix died at the age of 62.
Booth went on to marry twice more: first to Nancy Jaeger in 1988, before their split in 1996, and then to Stephanie Buckley in 1998. He and Stephanie remained together until his death at 85.
Booth was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2004 and suffered a stroke in 2010. In his final years, he also battled chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Financial impact and widow's struggle
His death followed years of being unable to earn, which left Steph dependent on Universal Credit after spending tens of thousands on his care, depleting their savings and leaving them penniless.
Steph described her ordeal: "When Tony died we were broke. I had no income for five years and we had used all our savings. All the benefits stopped and I had absolutely nothing. No husband, no income, nothing. It was such a shock."
She added: "I lived on Universal Credit for six months. It was horrible to be that low."
Steph received help from her step-daughter Cherie Blair, but admitted she "hated having to rely on handouts".
