{"id":684517,"date":"2026-07-10T16:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/684517\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T16:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T16:34:10","slug":"police-launch-murder-investigation-into-death-of-ann-widdecombe-ann-widdecombe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/684517\/","title":{"rendered":"Police launch murder investigation into death of Ann Widdecombe | Ann Widdecombe"},"content":{"rendered":"

A murder investigation has been launched after the suspicious death of the former MP Ann Widdecombe<\/a> at her home on Dartmoor, in Devon, police have said.<\/p>\n

Widdecombe\u2019s body was found with \u201cserious injuries\u201d by the ambulance service at an address in Haytor, Devon<\/a>, at 11.40am on Thursday. The police said officers were searching for a \u201cwhite male\u201d in connection with her death.<\/p>\n

The former Conservative minister\u2019s next-of-kin had been informed and were being supported by specially trained officers, Devon and Cornwall police said.<\/p>\n

Detectives from the Force Major Crime Investigation Team had launched a murder investigation and were conducting extensive inquiries into the circumstances surrounding Widdecombe\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer said it was important to \u201crise above any political differences\u201d and focus on catching the suspect.<\/p>\n

The prime minister said: \u201cThis 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnn was a distinguished politician over many, many years with many achievements, and it\u2019s a huge, huge loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he had spoken to the chief constable about the details of the case and that it was \u201creally important that this is a moment where we rise above any political differences, the political divide, and say the single most important thing at the moment is that all of us and the public help the police identify the individual suspected and make sure he\u2019s arrested as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s clearly dangerous, and I implore everybody who\u2019s got any information in relation to him to help the police with their inquiries, get him into police custody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starmer added that he had spoken to the prime minister-in-waiting, Andy Burnham, and the Reform UK and Conservative leaders, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch respectively.<\/p>\n

Badenoch said she was \u201cstunned\u201d to hear about the murder inquiry. \u201cTo be honest, I\u2019ve really struggled to find the words to say,\u201d the Conservative leader told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Conservative party is reeling. Ann was a longstanding member of the Conservative party, she was a Conservative minister, and then she moved to Reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019re just as stunned as we are, and I extend my condolences to Nigel Farage and everyone in Reform on behalf of the Conservative party, because we\u2019ve both lost a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roads were closed around the scene and a cordon was in place at the property while specialist officers continued forensic examinations.<\/p>\n

The force said there would be a significant police presence in the area on Friday while detectives and officers conducted house-to-house and CCTV inquiries.<\/p>\n

DCI Ilona Rosson said: \u201cThis is an extremely tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Ann Widdecombe at this difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur murder inquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace. 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the vicinity of Haytor Vale, Haytor, or anyone with CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage which could assist with our investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the extra police presence was also to provide reassurance to residents and anyone with concerns could approach officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will release further information when we are able to do so. In the meantime I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media. This is not only potentially harmful to our investigation but also deeply distressing for family and friends of Ann Widdecombe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Widdecombe, who appeared on Talk radio on Wednesday, lived in Haytor Vale, a village within the Dartmoor national park, in a 1970s bungalow named Widdcombe\u2019s Rest. A plaque with the name of the property was positioned at the end of her drive.<\/p>\n

She was a Conservative MP from 1987-2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone, later Maidstone and the Weald. She became a member of the Brexit party from 2019 and served as an MEP, representing South West England<\/a>, between 2019 and 2020. She was also a member of that party\u2019s successor, Reform UK.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute after her death was announced<\/a> earlier on Friday, her management made no reference to how she died.<\/p>\n

Portraying her political views as the result of what she saw as \u201cstrong Christian values and commitment to public service\u201d, her representatives, Cloud9 Management, said: \u201cShe loved the cut and thrust of political debate and, 16 years after leaving parliament, was still actively campaigning for Reform UK and offering forthright views on the hot topics of the day across numerous radio and television programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnn was a valued patron of many causes, particularly her animal charities. As Ann once said on The Graham Norton Show: \u2018We get one go this side of eternity, one go. Life is not a dress rehearsal, you take opportunities that you like and you go for it, that\u2019s my philosophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

They later said they were \u201cdevastated\u201d to learn a murder investigation had been launched into her death.<\/p>\n

The statement said: \u201cWe are absolutely devastated by this news following a very traumatic and upsetting 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The home secretary urged the public to refrain from speculation over Widdecombe\u2019s death, describing the circumstances as \u201cextremely distressing\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a post on X, Shabana Mahmood said: \u201cI am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ann Widdecombe. The circumstances of her death are extremely distressing and my thoughts are with Ann\u2019s family and loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnn\u2019s dedication to public service was decades long, and she was a true servant of her constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have spoken to the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall police today. The Home Office stands ready to provide whatever support they need with their ongoing investigation. I urge everyone to avoid speculation and allow the police investigation to progress.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A murder investigation has been launched after the suspicious death of the former MP Ann Widdecombe at her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-684517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}