LONDON — British counterterrorism authorities announced Tuesday that former politician and reality television personality Ann Widdecombe, 78, was the victim of a deliberate, targeted killing, though investigators say the motive has not yet been established.
A 28-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder and terrorism-related offenses is still being held as the investigation moves forward.
Laurence Taylor, who leads National Counter Terrorism Policing, spoke directly to reporters about the case. “It is clear that this was a targeted attack,” he said. “We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack.”
Widdecombe’s death sent shockwaves through British political circles. A former member of Parliament, she had been a prominent and outspoken figure in public life for decades, widely recognized for her socially conservative positions on issues including abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
Counterterror investigators took over the case on Monday after new evidence came to light. Initially, Devon and Cornwall Police had stated they did not believe the killing was terror-related or politically motivated.
Authorities believe Widdecombe was attacked on a Wednesday afternoon. She had been scheduled for a television interview that day but never showed up. Her body was discovered the following day at her secluded home in a rural village in southwest England.
Police have not disclosed how she died, stating only that she had suffered “serious injuries.”
The suspect was taken into custody on Saturday in South Yorkshire, a county in northern England — more than 200 miles from the village of Haytor, located on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, where Widdecombe’s body was found. He was initially arrested on murder suspicion, but after new evidence emerged while he was already in custody, authorities re-arrested him on suspicion of committing, preparing, or inciting acts of terrorism. He has not been formally charged and therefore has not been publicly identified.
Widdecombe served in the House of Commons from 1987 to 2010, holding positions that included prisons minister under Prime Minister John Major’s Conservative government in the 1990s.
Following her time in Parliament, she became a familiar face on television through appearances on reality programs including “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Celebrity Big Brother.”
She later aligned herself with the Brexit Party and briefly held a seat in the European Parliament before the United Kingdom departed from the European Union in 2020. More recently, she had become associated with the anti-immigration Reform UK party, frequently appearing in media as a spokesperson for the group.
The killing has reignited concerns about the safety of politicians in the United Kingdom. Security for public officials was previously heightened following the murders of two sitting members of Parliament — Labour lawmaker Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, and Conservative David Amess, who was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker motivated by the Islamic State group.
