Ann Widdecombe may have been dead at her home for nearly 24 hours before her body was discovered, police believe.

In an update on Saturday afternoon, officers said they were working on the assumption that the 78-year-old former politician was attacked at about 12.30pm on Wednesday.

The ambulance service found Widdecombe’s body at her bungalow in Haytor, Devon, at 11.40am on Thursday.

A 26-year-old man arrested in Newton Abbott on Friday in connection with the investigation was released without charge early on Saturday and is no longer part of the inquiry.

Assistant chief constable Matt Longman of Devon and Cornwall police said Widdecombe’s death was being treated as suspicious, but the force did not believe there was a wider risk to the public”.

He added: “Our inquiries are moving at pace for a suspect who is believed to be a white male.”

“I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.

“Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined.

“Detectives continue to carry out numerous inquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we remain committed to establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”

The force said on Friday that Widdecombe’s death was not being treated as terrorism and there was no information to suggest it had been a politically motivated crime.

“I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media,” Longman said. “This is not only potentially harmful to our investigation but also deeply distressing for family and friends of Miss Widdecombe.

“The family have also asked for their privacy to be respected as they come to terms with what has happened.

“We have set up a major incident public portal for information, images or footage to be submitted to us. This can be found on our website. Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers.”

The Guardian understands that police have pieced together a timeline of Widdecombe’s last movements with the help of information from television producers.

A former Conservative minister who later became a member of Reform UK, she made her last television appearance on TalkTV shortly after 8am on Wednesday.

She praised Nigel Farage’s decision to trigger a byelection in his Clacton constituency as “the sort of decision taking that is needed in the leader of the country”.

ITV News reported that Widdecombe had then spoken to a researcher from Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show before an interview scheduled for 1pm.

Widdecombe’s last message to the staff member is reported to have been sent at 12.19pm. At 12.48pm, the researcher contacted Widdecombe to request that she join a Zoom link for the show but received no response.

Channel 5 executives are understood to have contacted Widdecombe’s agent after follow-up messages and calls went unanswered. Producers were understood to be concerned, because it was uncharacteristic of Widdecombe, a regular panellist, not to respond.

Tributes continued to be paid to Widdecombe on Saturday. Christine Maloney said she was shocked at her neighbour’s death.

“It shouldn’t have happened, it’s horrific,” she said. “Everyone knows that’s her house, perhaps that’s the problem?”

Another local resident, Alison Gilbert, said: “She was a nice woman, really nice woman, and she had a great sense of humour. It’s a lovely area, you talk to strangers.

“Everyone saw her as quite an opinionated politician, but to us she was just a person in the community.”

Widdecombe’s Oxford contemporary and fellow former MP Gyles Brandreth said: “We met when we were both 19 and remained friends because she was fun and kind, even when you disagreed with her fiercely.”

An outspoken Catholic convert who opposed abortion and same-sex marriage, Widdecombe retired from the Commons in 2010 after serving as MP for Maidstone for 23 years.

She later appeared in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, where she won widespread public popularity as she reached the semi-finals.

She defected to Farage’s Brexit party in 2019, becoming an MEP for south-west England before the UK left the EU in 2020. She later joined its successor party, Reform, and became its immigration and justice spokesperson.