LAST UPDATE | 11 Jul

BRITISH POLICE BELIEVE Ann Widdecombe was attacked in her home nearly 24 hours before she was found dead and are hunting for a white male suspect.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said the former MP and MEP’s death is being treated as suspicious but “we do not believe there is a wider risk to the public”.

He said: “We believe the attack took place on Wednesday, 8 July at around 12.30pm.

“Our inquiries are moving at pace for a suspect who is believed to be a white male.”

A 26-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murdering Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, police said this morning.

Widdecombe's home in Devon Alamy Alamy

The ex-Tory prisons minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.

Widdecombe, who was 78, later became a Brexit Party MEP and subsequently a Reform UK spokeswoman.

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

Police outside Widdecombe's house Alamy Alamy

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 said the investigation was “moving at a significant pace”, adding: “We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened.

“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 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.”

Devon and Cornwall Police previously said the case of her death is “not being treated as terrorism” and there is “no information” at this time to suggest it was a “politically-motivated crime”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged people to come together across political divides following the murder.

He said he had spoken to his likely successor Andy Burnham, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage to “urge everybody to come together at a moment like this”.

Conservative leader Badenoch said she “really struggled to find the words to say” following Widdecombe’s death.

“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,” she added.

Widdecombe was a Conservative MP between 1987 and 2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone, later Maidstone and the Weald, and held several ministerial positions in Sir John Major’s government.

In her post-Commons career, she appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, partnered with Anton du Beke, and survived until the competition’s semi-finals thanks to the public vote.

She became a member of Farage’s Brexit Party in 2019 and served as an MEP representing South West England in Brussels between 2019 and 2020.

She later became immigration and justice spokeswoman for Farage’s Reform UK and remained active in the media – she appeared on TalkTV on Wednesday, the day before she was found dead.

Widdecombe was also due to be a guest on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show on Wednesday afternoon, but did not appear, as first reported by ITV.

She had exchanged messages with a researcher from the show, but did not respond when they tried to contact her to join a Zoom call from home.

Calls and texts sent after the programme aired remained unanswered, ITV said, and the Channel 5 show’s team followed up with her agent later on Wednesday and on Thursday.