UK police arrest man suspected of murdering former MP Ann Widdecombe

Reform UK politician Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home on Thursday with serious injuries.

British police have arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of murdering Ann Widdecombe, a former government minister and prominent Brexit campaigner, who was found dead at her home on Thursday.

Matt Longman, from Devon and ⁠Cornwall Police, said on Friday that the suspect remained in custody and ⁠that the ⁠incident “is not ⁠being treated as terrorism” or politically ‌motivated.

Police earlier said they launched a murder inquiry after officers were called to Widdecombe’s home in southwest England around midday on Thursday and found the 78-year-old dead with serious injuries.

“Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace,” Devon and Cornwall Police said in an earlier statement.

“We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened and to locate the person responsible who we believe to be a ‌white male.”

Forensic examinations were continuing at the property, they added.

Widdecombe was a Conservative member of parliament between 1987 and 2010 and held several junior ministerial positions in former Prime Minister John Major’s government. She later joined the Brexit Party and the far-right, anti-immigration Reform UK.

Outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed condolences to Widdecombe’s family and friends.

“This is really shocking news,” he said. “Ann was a distinguished politician over many, many years with many achievements, and it’s a huge, huge loss,” he added.

A spokesperson for Labour politician Andy Burnham, who will likely be the next prime minister, said his “deepest condolences and thoughts are with Ann’s family today, in incredibly distressing circumstances”, British media reported.

Two serving British MPs have been murdered in the last decade. The Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a Nazi-obsessed loner during the Brexit campaign in 2016. The Conservative lawmaker ⁠David Amess was stabbed to death in 2021 by a man inspired by the ISIL (ISIS) group.

Socially conservative views

Throughout her political career, Widdecombe was known for her socially conservative views, including opposition to abortion and to equalising the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual relationships.

She also defended a policy of shackling pregnant ⁠prisoners during childbirth to prevent their escape.

After leaving Parliament, she appeared on the TV talent ⁠show “Strictly Come Dancing” in 2010 and proved popular with viewers.

She later joined Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party and served as a member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2020.

Her most recent post was as immigration spokesperson for Reform UK, the rebranded Brexit Party, which leads in many ‌opinion polls.

Following the announcement of her death, and before details of the murder inquiry were announced, former colleagues from both the Conservative and Reform UK parties paid tribute to her.

Former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson ‌described ‌her in a post on X as “a heroic Brexiteer and a great speaker who could move Tory audiences to such ecstasy that she was a very hard act to follow”.