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UK Police Arrest Suspect in Ann Widdecombe Murder

British police have arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of murdering former government minister and Reform UK politician Ann Widdecombe after she was found dead at her home in southwest England.

The 78-year-old was discovered with what police described as "serious injuries" after officers were called to her property shortly after midday on Thursday.

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Former minister found dead at her home

The suspect, a white British man, was arrested on Friday in Newton Abbot, around 9 miles (15km) from Widdecombe's home. He remains in police custody while the investigation continues.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman of Devon and Cornwall Police said there was no evidence to suggest the killing was linked to terrorism or politically motivated. Forensic examinations at Widdecombe's home are ongoing.

Tributes paid across politics

Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Widdecombe's years of public service, paying tribute to her long political career.

Messages of condolence also came from former colleagues in both the Conservative Party and Reform UK following news of her death.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson described her on X as "a heroic Brexiteer and a great speaker," saying she could inspire Conservative audiences and was "a very hard act to follow."

Widdecombe became a prominent figure in British politics through her socially conservative views. She served as a junior minister in John Major's Conservative government between 1992 and 1997 before later becoming Reform UK's immigration and justice spokesperson under Nigel Farage.

Long political career

She was an outspoken opponent of abortion and opposed equalising the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual relationships. During her time in government, she also defended the practice of shackling pregnant prisoners during childbirth to prevent escapes.

A Catholic convert who never married and described herself as a virgin, Widdecombe frequently spoke in support of traditional family values.

Following her departure from Parliament, she gained a new audience by appearing on the BBC dance competition Strictly Come Dancing in 2010. Although judges criticised her performances, viewers kept her in the competition for several weeks.

She later joined Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020. Most recently, she was Reform UK's immigration spokesperson as the party rose in national opinion polls.

Attacks on British politicians

The investigation comes after two serving British MPs were murdered in the past decade.

Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a far-right extremist during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.

In 2021, Conservative MP David Amess was fatally stabbed by a man inspired by the Islamic State militant group.

Police have said there is currently no indication that Widdecombe's killing was connected to her political activities.

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11 July 2026

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JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member

Good to see anti terrorism police are now involved.

They always do that when it is absolutely nothing to do with terrorism/politics.

The uk police are bigger liars than Labour.

nexus7 Senior Member

nexus7

Member
On 7/11/2026 at 4:36 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

They now always announce the colour and nationality of the culprit, after they didn't do so in the case of the person who murdered three kids at a dance class in Southport. The fact that he was black led to online posts stating with no evidence at all that he was an illegal immigrant and that lead to serious rioting. In fact, he was a British citizen.

He was a second generation immigrant of Rwandan ethnicity ie born to parents who emigrated here.

If he is second generation and still unable to integrate into UK society to the extent he committed an attack like the Southport attack, it calls into question the UK's whole flawed immigration policy.

bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
7 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Good to see anti terrorism police are now involved.

They always do that when it is absolutely nothing to do with terrorism/politics.

The uk police are bigger liars than Labour.

When the Devon police found Anne Widdecombe's body they probably had no reason to assume the murder was a terrorist attack, hence their statement.

It was only when the suspect's car was traced, he was arrested and no doubt his house, phones and computer were seized, that police announced possible terrorism was involved.

The police didn't lie, simply, new information came to light.

scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

Advanced Member
1 hour ago, bannork said:

When the Devon police found Anne Widdecombe's body they probably had no reason to assume the murder was a terrorist attack, hence their statement.

It was only when the suspect's car was traced, he was arrested and no doubt his house, phones and computer were seized, that police announced possible terrorism was involved.

The police didn't lie, simply, new information came to light.

Still very likely he's a weak minded crazy lefty easily influenced by others

bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Still very likely he's a weak minded crazy lefty easily influenced by others

Now why don't you wait till we get more details from the police?

You're making stuff up.

I'll make some up in reply.

He could be a weak minded Putin useful idiot, paid to kill Anne Widdecombe to wind up the right against ' lefties'.

Whatever turns out to be case, he must be as thick as a Greek outhouse. Driving to Anne's house with his number plate fully visible, jeez.

scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

Advanced Member
3 minutes ago, bannork said:

Now why don't you wait till we get more details from the police?

You're making stuff up.

I'll make some up in reply.

He could be a weak minded Putin useful idiot, paid to kill Anne Widdecombe to wind up the right against ' lefties'.

Whatever turns out to be case, he must be as thick as a Greek outhouse. Driving to Anne's house with his number plate fully visible, jeez.

No chance of that, No way Putin would waste his time on that

bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

No chance of that, No way Putin would waste his time on that

How do you know?

scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, bannork said:

How do you know?

just obvious you idiot, if you are going to speculate come up with something plausible

JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member
5 hours ago, bannork said:

The police didn't lie, simply, new information came to light.

In other words, they initially didn't have a clue but made a statement anyway, and then they tried to keep the truth hidden as long as possible to "manage the plebs" and save face about their earlier screw up.

They never learn. 😄

JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member
3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Still very likely he's a weak minded crazy lefty easily influenced by others

Careful now. We are not supposed to speculate.

The UK Police shall be our only source of "truth". 😄

James105 Platinum Member

James105

Advanced Member
(edited)
5 hours ago, bannork said:

When the Devon police found Anne Widdecombe's body they probably had no reason to assume the murder was a terrorist attack, hence their statement.

It was only when the suspect's car was traced, he was arrested and no doubt his house, phones and computer were seized, that police announced possible terrorism was involved.

The police didn't lie, simply, new information came to light.

Right, so the suspect got in his Corsa that neighbours claimed never left the driveway and had actual weeds growing through it, then drove a 550 mile round trip to a remote small village where a high profile ex-MP coincidentally lived and killed her with a weapon he happened to bring with him on the journey, for no political reason whatsoever? That is what the police must have been thinking to announce what they did.

The correct answer to the question of why something happened when they don't know is "I don't know" or "we are keeping an open mind". The moronic answer is to mislead the public with disinformation which then has to be corrected. Everyone (apart from the police and their useful idiots) could see the obvious for what it was.

Edited by James105

kiwikeith Platinum Member

kiwikeith

Advanced Member
On 7/11/2026 at 9:16 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

I disagree with many of the stands she took, but she was one of the great characters of British politics.

GeographicReference

I think immigration reform could be a motive, now it's politicians being murdered maybe this trend will spread although I think it has already.

Reap what you sow.

wil iam not Gold Member

wil iam not

Advanced Member

26 here, 28 on the Beeb and SKY News.

JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member
7 hours ago, bannork said:

When the Devon police found Anne Widdecombe's body they probably had no reason to assume the murder was a terrorist attack, hence their statement.

It was only when the suspect's car was traced, he was arrested and no doubt his house, phones and computer were seized, that police announced possible terrorism was involved.

The police didn't lie, simply, new information came to light.

Jonathan Hall KC disagrees with you. But hey, what would he know?

Newspaper headlines: 'New twist in killer hunt' and 'One of a kind Ann'

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bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

just obvious you idiot, if you are going to speculate come up with something plausible

Putin's Russia paid the Welsh Reform leader Nathan Gill £40,000 to write speeches supporting Russia.

Two east Ukrainians from now part of Russian occupied territory, were recruited by Telegram to fire bomb Starmer's property.

Putin's capable of anything, only a fool would deny that.

bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

In other words, they initially didn't have a clue but made a statement anyway, and then they tried to keep the truth hidden as long as possible to "manage the plebs" and save face about their earlier screw up.

They never learn. 😄

Since the terrible Southport case, the British police have decided to release as much detail about the suspect as possible to prevent the kind of misinformation and lies printed online there, e.g. the suspect was an illegal migrant.

Hence the white, British, male announcement.

Where a mistake by the Devon and Cornwall police could be laid at their feet was to assume from the murder scene there was no political aspect to the case.

An assumption too far once the second suspect's home was found to be so far from Devon that robbery couldn't be the motive.

Don't forget when they stated no political aspect to the case they had the wrong man in custody, a Newton Abbot native from just down the road.

JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member
2 minutes ago, bannork said:

Since the terrible Southport case, the British police have decided to release as much detail about the suspect as possible to prevent the kind of misinformation and lies printed online there, e.g. the suspect was an illegal migrant.

Hence the white, British, male announcement.

No. They only do that when it is a white suspect.

The glee with which he said the word "white" in that press conference was striking. Reminded me of Humza Yousaf. It was fortunate he was stood behind a lectern or the audience might have got covered.

5 minutes ago, bannork said:

Where a mistake by the Devon and Cornwall police could be laid at their feet was to assume from the murder scene there was no political aspect to the case

Yes, they were so desperate for it to be non-political that they assumed it was and announced it to the public. An amateur mistake by a bunch of clowns. Typical of UK Police. Not only dishonest but inept.

bannork Star Member

bannork

Newsman
12 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

No. They only do that when it is a white suspect.

The glee with which he said the word "white" in that press conference was striking. Reminded me of Humza Yousaf. It was fortunate he was stood behind a lectern or the audience might have got covered.

Yes, they were so desperate for it to be non-political that they assumed it was and announced it to the public. An amateur mistake by a bunch of clowns. Typical of UK Police. Not only dishonest but inept.

Not dishonest, but inept. But cut them some slack, this is Devon and Cornwall police, hardly the UK centre of terrorism and crime.

scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

Advanced Member
50 minutes ago, bannork said:

Putin's Russia paid the Welsh Reform leader Nathan Gill £40,000 to write speeches supporting Russia.

Two east Ukrainians from now part of Russian occupied territory, were recruited by Telegram to fire bomb Starmer's property.

Putin's capable of anything, only a fool would deny that.

oh yes target number 1 78yo Anne Widdecombe, keep it real

scubascuba3 Star Member

scubascuba3

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, wil iam not said:

26 here, 28 on the Beeb and SKY News.

26yo is old news, not the same as 28yo

VocalNeal Star Member

VocalNeal

Advanced Member
16 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Good to see anti terrorism police are now involved.

Who probably have different skills and authority than local county plod.

Bangkok Barry Star Member

Bangkok Barry

Advanced Member
On 7/11/2026 at 10:36 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

They now always announce the colour and nationality of the culprit, after they didn't do so in the case of the person who murdered three kids at a dance class in Southport. The fact that he was black led to online posts stating with no evidence at all that he was an illegal immigrant and that lead to serious rioting. In fact, he was a British citizen.

For those who have disagreed with my post, and several have, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has stated that UK police are now encouraged to disclose a suspect's ethnicity and nationality upon being charged in high-profile or sensitive cases to proactively combat misinformation and manage community tensions. This policy was introduced to prevent the spread of false online rumors that can lead to public unrest.

So whether you agree with what I wrote or not, possibly due to your particular bias, it is a fact.

wil iam not Gold Member

wil iam not

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

26yo is old news, not the same as 28yo

So they first detained a 26yo, released him when they got the 28yo, is that correct?

JonnyF Star Member

JonnyF

Advanced Member
1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

For those who have disagreed with my post, and several have, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has stated that UK police are now encouraged to disclose a suspect's ethnicity and nationality upon being charged in high-profile or sensitive cases to proactively combat misinformation and manage community tensions.

Nobody has been charged in this case.

So why did they announce it? I will tell you why, because he is white.

brewsterbudgen Star Member

brewsterbudgen

Advanced Member
2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Nobody has been charged in this case.

So why did they announce it? I will tell you why, because he is white.

Understandable. If they hadn't, there would have been protests, riots and civic disorder, inflamed by the extreme right. But the right are OK if the culprit is white.

liddelljohn Gold Member

liddelljohn

Advanced Member

The culprit may be white but he will be a radicalised lefty woke green , irrational delusional jew hating russian funded loony ....he may not actually be a muslim or this time ,, but they all the same cancer desttroying western civilisation with their so called progressive ideology and white shame ..foolishness

liddelljohn Gold Member

liddelljohn

Advanced Member
On 7/14/2026 at 10:23 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

Understandable. If they hadn't, there would have been protests, riots and civic disorder, inflamed by the extreme right. But the right are OK if the culprit is white.

he has now been charged now with murder and terrorism and he is a member of the lefty green party apparently

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