Man charged with murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe in Devon

Joshua Kerry, 28, of Byrley Road in Rotherham, appeared in court charged with murdering Ann Widdecombe, the former MP and Reform UK spokeswoman. Prosecutors said Widdecombe, 78, was hit repeatedly on the head with a hammer, and the Crown Prosecution Service said Kerry was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 20 July 2026.

Widdecombe was found dead at her home in Devon after suffering serious head injuries, and Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called to an address at Haytor on Dartmoor at about 11.40am on Thursday 9 July 2026. Her killing has attracted exceptional attention because she was a long-standing public figure, first as a Conservative MP and later as an MEP, before becoming a Reform UK spokeswoman and a prominent ally of Nigel Farage. Farage paid tribute to Widdecombe and said he was deeply upset by her death.

Counter-terrorism police later took over the investigation, with Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor describing it as a "targeted attack". Police said the suspect was not known to Prevent, the government programme for people at risk of being drawn into extremism, and detectives said they were still working to understand the motive. Investigators have also been examining Widdecombe’s appearance on TalkTV on the morning she was killed as part of the inquiry.

The case has now moved through both the criminal courts and the coroner’s process. An inquest has opened into Widdecombe’s death, but the cause of death has not yet been formally established. Reports have said police believed she may have been attacked nearly 24 hours before she was found dead, and some said Kerry was first arrested at his terraced home in Rotherham on Saturday 11 July after nearly a week of questioning. The investigation has left unanswered whether the attack was politically motivated, extremist-linked or driven by another cause, while the charge itself has placed one of Britain’s more recognisable former politicians at the centre of a high-profile murder case.