Veteran politician Ann Widdecombe, 78, has been found dead with serious injuries and a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The Major Crime Investigation Team at Devon and Cornwall Police has now launched a murder investigation which is “in its early stages but progressing at a significant pace”, a force spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer urged the public to heed the police’s appeal for anyone with information to contact the investigation. “I would appeal to anyone with any information that could assist the police to come forward,” he said.
Widdecombe was found dead at her home on Thursday morning. After the identification of serious injuries by the staff of the Ambulance Service, the police arrived at the scene.
The former Tory minister’s death made headlines on Friday morning, but the nature of her death was unknown as the first installment of tributes poured in from her former colleagues and political opponents.
It was only on Friday afternoon that the true nature of Widdecombe’s death was revealed as police launched a manhunt for the suspect.
Late on Friday a 26-year-old white British woman was arrested in Newton Abbott, not far from the Widdecombe home where her body was found.
Devon and Cornwall Police have been reluctant to comment on details of the investigation.
While Widdecombe’s death comes after a week of heated debate over the safety of politicians, a police spokesman said the case was not being treated as terrorism and there was no information to suggest the crime was politically motivated.
The police have asked the public not to speculate about the circumstances of the case.
Widdecombe had a half-century career in British politics, first working as an adviser to a Conservative MP in the mid-1970s. In 1979 she stood unsuccessfully in her first parliamentary election.
She entered the House of Commons as the Conservative MP for Maidstone in the 1987 general election. Under the presidency of John Major, she served as minister for health, employment and finally as minister for prisons.
When the Tories were led by William Hague into opposition, she served as shadow health secretary and then shadow home secretary.
After a long career in the Conservative Party, Widdecombe defected to the Brexit Party in 2019 where she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European elections.
She remained active in politics throughout her life. After briefly becoming an independent, Widdecombe joined Reform UK in 2023 and served as the party’s spokesman on immigration and justice.
Alongside her political career, she wrote a series of novels and found a wider public profile through appearances on reality television programs such as Strictly Come Dancing.
(Further reading: Four things we learned from PMQ)
