![\"POLICE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ann-widdecombe-killed-in-targeted-attack-uk-counter-terror-police-say.jpg\")
(PA Graphics)<\/p>\nVeteran British politician Ann Widdecombe was killed in a \u201ctargeted attack\u201d, counter-terrorism police investigating her death have said.<\/p>\n
Former MEP Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon last Thursday.<\/p>\n
Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the former Conservative minister\u2019s death after new evidence came to light, but a senior officer stressed the murder and terror investigations are currently working \u201cin parallel\u201d.<\/p>\n
Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor told reporters: \u201cIt is clear that this was a targeted attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to comment on what that motivation was.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two investigations are running in parallel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of the preparation and planning, we are aware that there has been some preparation and planning. I don\u2019t want to go into the details of the extent of that at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
A 28-year-old white British man remains under arrest on suspicion of commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism, as well as on suspicion of murder, the Assistant Commissioner said.<\/p>\n
(PA Graphics)<\/p>\n
Officer have been granted a warrant of further detention meaning the suspect can now be held for questioning for up to seven days under the Terrorism Act, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are multiple lines of inquiry that we are pursuing expeditiously, and that includes a number of digital forensic examinations,\u201d the senior officer continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important to remember that this is a murder investigation following a brutal attack on a 78-year-old lady in her home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Widdecombe\u2019s body was discovered at about 11.40am on Thursday at her remote bungalow. She had sustained serious injuries.<\/p>\n
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the House of Commons on Monday the suspect was not known to the Government anti-extremism scheme Prevent.<\/p>\n
Footage was shared with media outlets, including the Sun newspaper and Sky News, showing a man with no top on being arrested and led away from a house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Police believe Widdecombe was attacked on Wednesday at about 12.30pm, shortly before she had been due on Channel 5\u2019s Matt Allwright show.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784093114_764_ann-widdecombe-killed-in-targeted-attack-uk-counter-terror-police-say.jpg\")
Police outside the house of Ann Widdecombe in Haytor in Dartmoor (Oscar Rihil\/PA)<\/p>\n
ITV News later published a series of WhatsApp images that appear to show that Widdecombe stopped responding to messages from a TV producer after the approximate time police believe the attack took place that day.<\/p>\n
Widdecombe was first elected a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, and went on to become an MEP for the Brexit Party and then a spokeswoman for Reform UK.<\/p>\n
She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran British politician Ann Widdecombe was killed in a \u201ctargeted attack\u201d, counter-terrorism police investigating her death have said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-550430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}