Police launch murder probe after Ann Widdecombe found dead at home

Devon and Cornwall Police launched a murder investigation after Ann Widdecombe was found dead inside her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, following a call from the ambulance service at about 11.40am on Thursday, 9 July. The 78-year-old former Conservative MP had serious injuries, and police said the death was being treated as suspicious.

Officers said the inquiry was in its early stages and appealed for information as they worked the scene at the Dartmoor property. Early reporting also described detectives looking for a white male suspect, adding urgency to a case that has immediately drawn close attention because Widdecombe was a prominent former national politician with a long Westminster career.

Widdecombe represented Maidstone from 1987 to 1997 and then Maidstone and The Weald from 1997 to 2010. She left the House of Commons on 6 May 2010 after serving as Minister of State at the Home Office from 6 July 1995 to 1 May 1997. She later became associated with Reform UK, extending her public profile well beyond her years in Parliament.

The death prompted a swift political response. The home secretary described the circumstances as "extremely distressing", while Widdecombe’s management said it was devastated. Political figures across Westminster expressed shock at the death of a former minister whose career ranged from the Commons to the Home Office and later to Reform UK.

The case now places the focus on what happened inside the Haytor house, who was there when emergency services arrived and how police are building the murder inquiry. With detectives treating the death as suspicious from the outset, the investigation has already raised immediate questions about the safety of public figures, the pace of the response and the motive behind the killing.