A 26–year–old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former MP and MEP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, police said.
The ex–Tory prisons minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.
Miss Widdecombe, who was 78, later became a Brexit Party MEP and subsequently as Reform UK’s Immigration and Justice spokesperson.
On Saturday, Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the man’s release from custody, following his arrest yesterday.
The force said today that the investigation was ‘moving at a significant pace’ and that they were ‘deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened’.
Officers are reportedly viewing CCTV from Miss Widdecombe’s property for clues and there remains a large police presence in the area.
Miss Widdecombe, who was unmarried and had lived alone since her retirement in 2010, was last seen during an interview on Talk TV at around 8am the previous day. She had been scheduled to appear on Jeremy Vine‘s Channel 5 show later that morning but failed to appear.
In a post on X Channel 5 presenter Dan Walker said that Miss Widdecombe had been due to appear on 5 Daytime on Wednesday afternoon ‘but stopped responding to messages and didn’t turn up for the show’.
Ex–Tory minister Ann Widdecombe was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.
Police outside Miss Widdecombe’s home in Devon. Today, Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the release of a 26–year–old man from custody, following his arrest on Friday
Officers outside Miss Widdecombe’s home. The force said the investigation was ‘moving at a significant pace’
He added: ‘The team contacted her agent to ask them to check in on her. This information has been passed to police as it’s part of the investigation.’
ITV News reported that a researcher on the Channel 5 show had spoken to Miss Widdecombe on the phone earlier in the afternoon to set up the interview.
After the call, the researcher exchanged messages with Miss Widdecombe, with her last message received at 12:19pm.
When the researcher then messaged again at 12:48pm requesting that Miss Widdecombe join the Zoom link in preparation for the remote interview, she did not reply.
Subsequent voice calls and messages asking if everything was ok remained unanswered. Concerns were raised by the show’s research team about the uncharacteristic lack of response by Miss Widdecombe, who was a regular on the show.
They contacted her agent later on Wednesday and followed up again on Thursday.
Her family became worried when they were unable to raise her on the phone. Police were called around 11.40am on Thursday after the gardener discovered her body in the kitchen of the bungalow in Haytor.
Last night, a source close to the family said: ‘We’re in total shock and disbelief. It was hard enough to find out we’d lost Ann – but we still have yet to come to terms with the fact that she died in such brutal circumstances. Perhaps we never will.
Miss Widdecombe inside her home. Asked last October whether she ever feared being physically attacked because of her beliefs and high profile, Miss Widdecombe said defiantly: ‘No’
‘She was a little, frail old lady. What we find most difficult of all is that she must have been in abject terror for the last minutes of her life.’
The 78–year–old Brexiteer and devout Catholic refused to be cowed by terrorists – even after the murder of fellow MP and ‘best friend in Parliament,’ Sir David Amess.
Asked last October whether she ever feared being physically attacked because of her beliefs and high profile, Miss Widdecombe said defiantly: “No.”
‘I took a very robust attitude,’ she said. ‘In my day, it was the IRA and I suppose I had a slightly faithless attitude.
‘I remember I used to get death threats from time to time. We all did, and my staff would say, “Shall we tell the police?”
‘I’d say, “Put it in the bin,” because if the IRA are going to do it, they’re not going to tell you in advance, they’re just going to do it. As they did with Airey Neave [assassinated in a 1979 car bomb].
‘I still take that attitude. I do know that we’re in a slightly different world but I think it’s crucial that MPs and their constituents intermingle freely.’ She said Sir David, 69, who was stabbed to death by Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali while holding a constituency surgery in Leigh–on–Sea, Essex, in October 2021, agreed with her.
‘I knew him terribly well, and his family, of course,’ she added. ‘I know, and I said this to his widow, who agreed with me, that he would never want his death used as a reason to distance MPs from their constituents.
Flowers left outside Miss Widdecombe’s home in devon following her death
‘His belief, and it is still my belief, that an MP should be able to walk through the town on a Saturday afternoon, talk to their constituents. I feel very strongly about that.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said her murder was a ‘terrible reflection on modern Britain’.
He said: ‘Our nation is a much, much poorer place without her. Reform UK is certainly a much worse place without her. I was expecting to see her in Clacton over the course of the next few days. Sadly, that is not going to happen.’
Sir Keir Starmer urged people to ‘come together’ across political divides following the murder. He said: ‘This 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.
‘Ann was a distinguished politician over many, many years with many achievements, and it’s a huge, huge loss.’
Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch said: ‘I don’t understand how someone could do something so horrific to an elderly person. It was a nasty, horrific attack and my heart is breaking for her family.’
Andy Burnham sent his condolences to Widdecombe’s family, and said: ‘Ann gave a lifetime of public service’.
Former Tory leader Boris Johnson called on the police to provide answers: ‘Sadness at the death of Ann Widdecombe now turning to anger and bewilderment at the news that she seems to have been murdered. We need the facts as fast as we can.’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ann Widdecombe. The circumstances of her death are extremely distressing.’
Paying tribute to his ‘darling pal’ Daily Mail columnist Andrew Pierce said: ‘I had spoken to Widders myself only on Tuesday, seemingly the day before she died.
‘As always, she was fizzing with ideas and berating me – as she invariably did – for not have written in these pages about an issue relating to child maintenance payments, which she planned on championing at Reform’s party conference in September.
‘Her uncompromising, no-nonsense nature was why I loved her, and why I will miss all 5ft one-and-a-half inches of her (‘Don’t forget the half!’ she used to quip) more than I can say.’
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said: ‘Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined.
‘Detectives continue to carry out numerous enquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we remain committed to establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident.’
He continued: ‘I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.
‘We 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 Miss Widdecombe. The family have also asked for their privacy to be respected as they come to terms with what has happened.
‘We have set up a Major Incident Public Portal for information, images or footage to be submitted to us. This can be found on our website.
‘Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers.’
