British man, 28, arrested on suspicion of murdering Ann Widdecombe

A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Ann Widdecombe, Devon & Cornwall police have announced.

The suspect, a white British national, was arrested at an address in South Yorkshire on the evening of Saturday, 11 July, with support from Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police.

A statement from Devon & Cornwall Police read: "We can confirm that a 28-year-old man was arrested at an address in the South Yorkshire area this evening [11 July] on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe.

"The suspect, who is a white British national, is now in police custody.

"Miss Widdecombe’s family have been informed of this development.

"We were supported by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police who carried out the arrest on behalf of Devon & Cornwall Police. At this time, there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism related incident and as a force we retain primacy of the investigation.

"This is a live and active investigation, and no further information will be issued tonight. We will look to provide further updates tomorrow [12 July]."

Widdecombe was found at her home in Hayton on Dartmoor on Thursday (9 July) after sustaining injuries.

Police believe Widdecombe was attacked in her home nearly 24 hours before she was found dead, aged 78.

She had reportedly been scheduled to appear as a guest on Channel 5's Matt Allwright show on Wednesday (8 July) afternoon but appeared to stop responding to messages.

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murdering the former MP and MEP on Friday but was subsequently released and is no longer part of the investigation.

Widdecombe was a former Conservative MP, Brexit Party MEP and subsequently became a Reform UK spokeswoman.

She made her final public appearance on Wednesday via remote video link on TalkTV.

ITV News first reported Widdecombe was then due to be a guest, again via video call from her home, on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show at 1pm the same day.

A researcher is believed to have spoken to the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant in the afternoon to set up this interview.

After that call, they exchanged messages with Widdecombe and her last message was received at 12:19pm.

But when the researcher messaged the former MP again at 12:48, asking her to join the Zoom link in preparation for the interview, she didn't reply.

Further attempts were made to contact Widdecombe through voice calls as well as messages but they all remained unanswered.

As Widdecombe was a regular on the show, the research team became concerned by her 'uncharacteristic lack of response'. They contacted her agent later on Wednesday and followed up again on Thursday, when she was found by emergency services.

The police has asked people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media.