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Key events
On Friday, political leaders across the spectrum expressed shock and horror at the alleged killing. Keir Starmer said it was important to “rise above any political differences” and focus on helping the police investigation.
The prime minister said:
This is really shocking news, and my thoughts, I think all of our thoughts, will be with the family and friends of Ann Widdecombe at this awful time for them.
Ann was a distinguished politician over many, many years with many achievements, and it’s a huge, huge loss.
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch said she was “stunned” to hear about the murder inquiry, adding that her party was “reeling” from the news. “To be honest, I’ve really struggled to find the words to say,” she told reporters.
Andy Burnham, the MP for Makerfield, described the news as “terrible” and said his thoughts were with her friends and family. Burnham, who is widely expected to become prime minister later this month, praised Widdecombe for bringing “conviction, wit and personality to public life over many years”.
Writing on social media, the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, said his thoughts and prayers are with her family, describing Widdecombe as a “woman of deep faith who devoted her life to public service”.
Channel 5 News Presenter Dan Walker has posted on social media confirming that Ann Widdecombe had been due to appear on Channel 5 on Wednesday afternoon. Walker, who described the news of Widdecombe’s death as “really sad”, posted on X yesterday:
Ann was due to appear on 5 Daytime on Wednesday afternoon but stopped responding to messages and didn’t turn up for the show. The team contacted her agent to ask them to check in on her. This information has been passed to police as it’s part of the investigation.
As we mentioned in the opening post, Widdecombe, who appeared on TalkTV on Wednesday, lived in Haytor Vale, a village within the Dartmoor national park, in a 1970s bungalow named Widdecombe’s Rest.
A plaque with the name of the property was positioned at the end of her drive.
Widdecombe was due to be a guest on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show on Wednesday afternoon, but did not appear, as first reported by ITV News.
She had exchanged messages with a researcher from the show, but did not respond when they tried to contact her to join a Zoom call from home.
Calls and texts sent after the programme aired remained unanswered, ITV News said, and the Channel 5 show’s team followed up with her agent later on Wednesday and on Thursday.
Man arrested on suspicion of Ann Widdecombe’s murder is released
A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering the former MP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police said early on Saturday.
In a statement, the force’s assistant chief constable, Matt Longman, said: “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.”
He said the investigation was “moving at a significant pace”. Police previously said there were no indications it was a “politically motivated crime” and have confirmed the incident was not being treated as terror-related.
On Friday, police said they were seeking a white male in connection with the death and later confirmed a 26-year-old white British national had been arrested at an address in Newton Abbot, less than 10 miles from Widdecombe’s home in Haytor, Devon.
Widdecombe’s body was found with “serious injuries” by the ambulance service at her home at 11.40am on Thursday.
She was a Conservative MP from 1987 to 2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone. She became a member of the Brexit party in 2019 and served as an MEP, representing South West England, between 2019 and 2020. She was also a member of that party’s successor, Reform UK.
Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage said Widdecombe’s alleged murder showed that life for politicians in Britain had become even more dangerous. He said:
Our nation is a much, much poorer place without her. Reform UK is certainly a much worse place without her. I was expecting to see her in Clacton over the course of the next few days. Sadly, that is not going to happen.
Rest in peace, Ann. A remarkable, principled woman, and a truly dreadful way to die, and a terrible reflection on modern Britain.
And I do fear that for anybody in public life, or especially the political space, things have become even more dangerous.
