{"id":686863,"date":"2026-07-12T01:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T01:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/686863\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T01:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T01:11:11","slug":"uk-28-year-old-man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-murdering-former-lawmaker-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/686863\/","title":{"rendered":"UK: 28-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzc836002r28qi6li88om3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday evening in South Yorkshire, England, \u201con suspicion of the murder of\u201d former UK lawmaker Ann Widdecombe, according to British police.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzeya900043b6rjjcpna1y@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe suspect, who is a white British national, is now in police custody,\u201d said the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.devon-cornwall.police.uk\/news-article\/3e2d22d4-787d-f111-9d98-6045bdd24049\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">statement<\/a> from Devon and Cornwall Police. \u201cMiss Widdecombe\u2019s family have been informed of this development.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzscj5000g3b6rv1secyix@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe were supported by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police who carried out the arrest on behalf of Devon &amp; Cornwall Police,\u201d the statement continued.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh0xdz8000f356re826qzea@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The police said that there is no information to suggest Widdecombe\u2019s murder was an act of terrorism or politically motivated.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783818670_257_ap26192315158056.jpg\" alt=\"Police outside the house of Ann Widdecombe in Haytor in Dartmoor on Saturday, July 11, 2026.\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783818671_425_2026-07-11t124519z-1333589867-rc2obmagzw3x-rtrmadp-3-britain-crime-widdecombe.JPG\" alt=\"Members of the forensic team on site during a police investigation at the home of 78-year-old former government minister Ann Widdecombe after she was found dead, in Haytor, Britain, on July 11, 2026.\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3168\" width=\"4752\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh04rbu000x3b6r7e3dp2zr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The former lawmaker was found dead at her home in Haytor, Devon, on Thursday. Police say they believe Widdecombe died the day before her body was discovered.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzvykk000k3b6rueg7z9wb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            She had \u201csustained serious injuries,\u201d Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said in an earlier statement.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzw0pt000m3b6r8oeq269l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Saturday\u2019s arrest is the second in the investigation into Widdecombe\u2019s death. On Friday police briefly arrested, then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/07\/10\/uk\/ann-widdecombe-uk-police-murder-investigation-intl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">released a 26-year-old<\/a> from custody. That man \u201cis no longer part of the investigation,\u201d police said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzt7vm000i3b6rym2mq1df@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Widdecombe, 78, was a former Conservative Member of Parliament, government minister and fixture on British television. In 2019, she was elected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/meps\/en\/197744\/ANN_WIDDECOMBE\/history\/9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">European Parliament<\/a> as a member of right-wing lawmaker Nigel Farage\u2019s Brexit Party. After the UK formally withdrew from the EU, she served as the immigration spokesperson for the Brexit Party\u2019s successor organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/09\/07\/uk\/nigel-farage-reform-uk-party-conference-intl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reform UK<\/a>.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh06i42000z3b6rz5oqroe8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Farage released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Danvt1PKUv3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">a statement <\/a>on Instagram mourning Widdecombe on Friday, saying that she \u201cgave her life to public service.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783818671_518_2026-07-11t143944z-2073617180-rc2qbmagwp8k-rtrmadp-3-britain-crime-widdecombea.JPG\" alt=\"Leader of the Reform UK party Nigel Farage lays flowers at Dartmoor National Park near the home of former government minister and Reform UK party member Ann Widdecombe, in Haytor, Britain, on July 11, 2026.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1380\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh15c4f000m356rzc1twyop@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Farage visited Devon on Saturday to lay a wreath for Widdecombe, according to UK news agency PA Media.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh16wkl000o356rxhyrjkgu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Reform\u2019s MPs are now being given 24-hour security protection following Widdecombe\u2019s death, PA reported.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrh16y8c000q356rklqfvfml@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The security is being paid for by the party and was offered for fear of similar attacks.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrgzc836002s28qi0somddlo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            This is a developing story and will be updated.\n    <\/p>\n<p>              <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 28-year-old man was arrested Saturday evening in South Yorkshire, England, \u201con suspicion of the murder of\u201d former&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-686863","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\/686863","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=686863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}