Devon and Cornwall Police have released a 26-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe. The 78-year-old was found dead at her Dartmoor home after sustaining serious injuries. The investigation continues as political figures from across the spectrum express shock and call for answers.
A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former MP and MEP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, police said.
The ex-Tory prisons minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries. Miss Widdecombe, who was 78, later became a Brexit Party MEP and subsequently a Reform UK spokesperson. On Saturday, Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the man's release from custody, following his arrest yesterday.
The force said today that the investigation was 'moving at a significant pace' and that they were 'deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened'. Miss Widdecombe, who was unmarried and had lived alone since her retirement in 2010, was last seen during an interview on Talk TV at around 8am the previous day. She had been scheduled to appear on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show later that morning but failed to appear.
Her family became worried when they were unable to raise her on the phone. Police were called around 11.40am on Thursday after the gardener discovered her body in the kitchen of the bungalow in Haytor. Last night, a source close to the family said: 'We're in total shock and disbelief. It was hard enough to find out we'd lost Ann - but we still have yet to come to terms with the fact that she died in such brutal circumstances.
Perhaps we never will. She was a little, frail old lady. What we find most difficult of all is that she must have been in abject terror for the last minutes of her life.
' The 78-year-old Brexiteer and devout Catholic refused to be cowed by terrorists - even after the murder of fellow MP and 'best friend in Parliament,' Sir David Amess. Asked last October whether she ever feared being physically attacked because of her beliefs and high profile, Miss Widdecombe said defiantly: 'No.' She said: 'I took a very robust attitude.
' She added that in her day, it was the IRA and she had a slightly faithless attitude. She recalled that she used to get death threats from time to time and that all MPs did. Her staff would ask, 'Shall we tell the police?
' She would say, 'Put it in the bin,' because if the IRA are going to do it, they're not going to tell you in advance, they're just going to do it. She referenced what happened to Airey Neave. She maintained that stance, saying, 'I still take that attitude. I do know that we're in a slightly different world but I think it's crucial that MPs and their constituents intermingle freely.
' She said Sir David, 69, who was stabbed to death by Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali while holding a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in October 2021, agreed with her. She stated, 'I knew him terribly well, and his family, of course.
' She added, 'I know, and I said this to his widow, who agreed with me, that he would never want his death used as a reason to distance MPs from their constituents. ' She emphasized, 'His belief, and it is still my belief, that an MP should be able to walk through the town on a Saturday afternoon, talk to their constituents. I feel very strongly about that.
' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said her murder was a 'terrible reflection on modern Britain'. 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.
' Sir Keir Starmer urged people to 'come together' across political divides following the murder. He 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 leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'I don't understand how someone could do something so horrific to an elderly person. It was a nasty, horrific attack and my heart is breaking for her family.
' Former Tory leader Boris Johnson called on the police to provide answers: 'Sadness at the death of Ann Widdecombe now turning to anger and bewilderment at the news that she seems to have been murdered. We need the facts as fast as we can.
' Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: 'I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ann Widdecombe. The circumstances of her death are extremely distressing.
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