A 26-year-old white British man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the former Conservative MP and Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe, after her body was found with serious injuries at her home on Dartmoor.
Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called by the ambulance service to Widdecombe’s bungalow in Haytor, a village on the edge of the national park, at 11:40 BST on Thursday morning. The 78-year-old, who served as MP for Maidstone for 23 years and later as a Brexit Party MEP, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A 26-year-old man is arrested on suspicion of murder after Ann Widdecombe's body found with serious injuries at her Devon home.”
Within hours of the discovery, police launched a manhunt for a white male suspect. By Friday afternoon they had arrested a man at an address in Newton Abbot, less than 10 miles from Widdecombe’s home. He remains in custody.
A neighbour, Peter Cornthwaite, 66, told The Sun he saw a van arrive in the early hours of Thursday and a man dressed in hiking clothes at the property. “There was a white British man at her house in the middle of the night,” he said.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said there was “no information that this is a politically motivated crime” and confirmed the incident was not being treated as terror-related. “It’s early stages of the investigation, so we remain open-minded at this time,” he told a press conference in Exeter. He would not say whether the suspect was known to Widdecombe.
Detective Chief Inspector Ilona Rosson, leading the inquiry, described it as “an extremely tragic incident” and said the investigation was “moving at a significant pace”. She appealed for anyone with CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage from the Haytor area to come forward.
The political reaction was swift. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak called Widdecombe a “formidable public servant” and said the circumstances of her death were “shocking”. Sir Keir Starmer urged the public to assist police in apprehending what he described as a “clearly dangerous” individual.
Widdecombe’s nephew, Roger Widdecombe, speaking from his home in Cheltenham, said: “My thanks go to everybody who has sent messages of condolences. But we are not going to say anything further at this stage.”
The force has set up a Major Incident Public Portal for information, and a police cordon remains in place while forensic examinations continue.
