LONDON — A former British lawmaker has been found dead with serious injuries at his home Thursday, sparking a murder investigation that has renewed concerns about the safety of the country’s politicians.
Ann Widdecombe, 78, was one of The most famous British politicianswas a Conservative MP for two decades before reinventing herself as a television personality. Known for her strong socially conservative views on abortion and LGBTQ rightsshe most recently served as justice spokesperson for the far-right Reform UK party.
Police said Friday there was no indication the killing was politically motivated, but his death has renewed concern about the safety of British politicians after two other people were killed in the past decade.
On Saturday, police said a 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder had been released and was no longer part of the investigation. A large police presence remained outside Widdecombe’s home on Saturday as the investigation continued.
“Our investigation into the murder is in its early stages but is progressing at a significant pace. We are deploying all necessary resources to find out exactly what happened,” said Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman of Devon and Cornwall Police.
Flowers are seen outside Ann Widdecombe’s house at Haytor in Dartmoor, England on July 11.Finnbarr Webster/Getty ImagesKeir Starmer, outgoing Prime Minister said it was “shocking news,” while Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch said she was “stunned” and “really struggling for words.”
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the circumstances of Widdecombe’s death were “extremely distressing” and urged the public “to avoid speculation and allow the police investigation to progress.”
But Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said he feared that “for anyone in public life, and particularly in the political space, things have become even more dangerous for them”.
“We don’t know what the political motivations are, or even if they exist,” he said. “Was this a burglary gone wrong? We just don’t know.”
Farage received a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift in early 2024 from billionaire crypto donor Christopher Harborne, which he initially said in June 2026 was for his personal security, adding that he will need protection “until the day I die.” He later said the gift was “unconditional.”
Britain’s Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating whether Farage broke the rules by failing to declare the gift, which was made months before he became a member of Parliament.
For others, Widdecombe’s death was a reminder of the murders committed over the past decade of politicians Jo Cox and David Amess.
Cox’s husband, Brendan Cox, said Widdecombe’s death brought back “all the pain and emotion” of losing his wife, a Labor MP who was murdered in 2016.
“We obviously do not know and cannot speculate on the motivation, justification and motive for the attack,” he wrote in the British newspaper. Daily Mirror newspaper. “But what we can say is that nothing could ever justify an attack like this.”
Cox, 41, known for her social justice campaigns and seen as a rising star in Britain’s Labor Party, was stabbed 15 times and suffered three gunshot wounds in a 2016 attack outside her constituency office in the town of Birstall in West Yorkshire, northern England.
Cox was a leading supporter of the campaign to remain in the European Union and prevent the debate from being hijacked by immigration. Thomas Mair, convicted of her murder, repeatedly shouted “Britain first” during the attack, the trial heard.
Five years later, conservative lawmaker Amess was stabbed multiple times in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group. Ali Harbi Ali was sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder.
Although the details of Widdecombe’s death remain unclear, it “certainly comes against a backdrop where the safety of MPs is becoming increasingly concerning”, said Andrew Barclay, professor of politics at the University of Sheffield.
Beyond Cox and Amess, he added, other reported crimes against lawmakers “have more than doubled since the 2019 general election, and there have been several other notable instances of harassment since then, both physically and on a large scale on social media,” he told NBC News.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said the UK was “generally a non-violent society”, and yet “we have almost had two MPs killed in the last 10 years”.
“We are also a more politically polarized place than ever,” he said, and politicians “have also had to get used to threats from people online and in person on the campaign trail.”
Although it is possible to exaggerate the risk, he added, “they are right to be concerned and to seek protection.”
The alarm was raised in Widdecombe on Wednesday when she failed to turn up for a remote television interview, Channel 5 presenter Dan Walker said on X.
“Ann was scheduled to appear on 5 Daytime on Wednesday afternoon, but she stopped responding to messages and did not show up on the show,” he said. “The team contacted her agent to ask him to monitor her. This information was passed to police as part of the investigation.”
The management company which represented Widdecombe after he left politics said his life and career were driven by strong Christian values and a commitment to public service.
“She loved political debate and, 16 years after leaving Parliament, she was still actively campaigning for Reform UK and offering frank views on the burning issues of the day,” Cloud9 Management said.
