UK counter-terrorism police say Ann Widdecombe was killed in 'targeted attack'

LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago

POLICE IN THE UK have said that veteran politician Ann Widdecombe was killed in a “targeted attack”.

Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation into the former Conservative minister’s death after new evidence came to light.

The head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor told reporters: “It is clear that this was a targeted attack.

“We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack.”

Taylor said that 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.

Officers 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.

Taylor added that there are “multiple lines of inquiry that we are pursuing expeditiously, and that includes a number of digital forensic examinations”.

“It is important to remember that this is a murder investigation following a brutal attack on a 78-year-old lady in her home.”

Widdecombe, latterly a Reform UK spokeswoman and Brexit Party MEP, was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon.

Her body was discovered at about 11.40am on Thursday at her remote bungalow. She had sustained serious injuries.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the House of Commons on Monday the suspect was not known to the government anti-extremism scheme Prevent.

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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.

In cases of this kind, investigators will look through devices owned by the suspect to see if there is any terrorist material, and consider other issues such as their mental health.

If a range of different extremist material has been accessed it can be challenging to decipher one ideology – more than half the referrals to Prevent in the year to the end of March 2025 were for no fixed ideology.

Meanwhile, Mahmood said Widdecombe was “one of those rare politicians who was bigger than politics”, and that the circumstances of the former Maidstone MP’s death were “extremely distressing”.

“She was a unique figure in our politics, a distinctive and devoted public servant, the likes of whom we will rarely, if ever, see again,” she added.

“Ann had a profound faith. Her journey in this life has ended too soon.”

Nigel Farage meanwhile has been offered a meeting with the head of a parliamentary body responsible for politicians’ security amid the party’s concerns about the safety of Reform UK MPs, Mahmood said.

Mahmood will also look at security advice for former members of parliament and members of parties that do not have MPs.

UK Police believe Widdecombe was attacked on Wednesday at about 12.30pm, shortly before she had been due on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show.

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.

Meanwhile, Downing Street stressed the importance of protecting the “integrity” of the investigation.

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.

She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.