What we know about UK politician Ann Widdecombe’s murder
The former politician was found dead in her home last week after she sustained ‘serious injuries’, according to the police. The murder of former British
The former politician was found dead in her home last week after she sustained ‘serious injuries’, according to the police. The murder of former British politician Ann Widdecombe has sent shockwaves through the country’s political circles, with the case now referred to the counterterrorism police. Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in southwest England last week with what police had described as “serious injuries”. On Friday, Devon and Cornwall police arrested a 28-year-old white man on suspicion of her murder. But on Monday, the man in custody was rearrested by counterterrorism police, now on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of “terrorism”. Head of the national counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said on Monday they were “pursuing multiple lines of inquiry to establish the motivation for this attack”. “Our priority is progressing this investigation quickly,” Taylor said. Here’s what we know Who was Ann Widdecombe? From 1987 to 2010, Widdecombe served as the Conservative MP for Maidstone and held government positions, including shadow home secretary in 1999. After leaving the House of Commons in 2010, Widdecombe became a TV personality, featuring on Big Brother and the BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing. However, Widdecombe’s political stance and her socially conservative views continued throughout her nonpolitical career, and by 2019 she had joined the Brexit Party to leave the European Union.
She was also a member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020, representing the party. In 2023, she joined the far-right Reform UK party and served as its immigration and justice spokesperson until her death. She was known for her stance against abortion and against equalising the age of consent for gay and heterosexual relationships. What do we know about the circumstances of her death and the suspect? Widdecombe was found dead at her home in Haytor, northern England, at about 11:40am (10:40 GMT) on July 9. However, police believe that she was attacked on Wednesday, nearly 24 hours before her body was found. They came to this conclusion after examining text messages between her and a researcher from Channel 5 who had been communicating with her about Widdecombe’s proposed interview. Her last reply to the researcher was sent at 12:19am (11:19 GMT) on Wednesday. Security camera footage obtained by the Sun newspaper also showed a man, later identified as the suspect, getting into his car in Yorkshire with what appeared to be a long object protruding from his pocket. The suspect was also linked to a property in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, more than 320km (200 miles) from Widdecombe’s home. On Friday, the police issued a statement saying they had launched a murder investigation, but said they had “no information that this is a politically motivated crime” and that it was not being treated as terror-related.
The BriefWire