Murder suspect arrested after ‘behaving suspiciously’ near home of slain British ex-MP
Sunday, 12 July 2026
A 28-year-old man has been arrested in South Yorkshire on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe, police said on Saturday.
The news came as Devon and Cornwall Police were seeking a driver who was reported “behaving suspiciously” near the former minister’s home in the hours before her death, The Telegraph can reveal.
The manager of a garage in Haytor, Dartmoor, said he had alerted police after his colleague noticed “something out of the ordinary” at around 9am on Wednesday, with a dark VW Golf Mk4 parked in what he described as a “strange place”.
The car was reported to police shortly before Nigel Farage visited the scene of the alleged murder, where he said he believed the killing had been “premeditated”.
The Reform UK leader also said a car was parked on Widdecombe’s driveway shortly before she was found dead.
Officers asked the garage to provide CCTV of the vehicle, but they did not have any, The Telegraph understands.
Police revealed Widdecombe was attacked and killed 24 hours before her body was found lying in a pool of blood at her home in Devon at around midday on Thursday, July 9.
One car garage worker in Haytor said: “At around 9am I went to go and put the car in a lay-by. (The Golf) was at the top of the lane near Ann’s place. If it was a local they would have parked in the car park or one of the lay-bys.
“He was doing up his walking boots. He was in his late 20s, maybe early 30s. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I remember thinking ‘Why is he parked there?’ He was halfway out the lay-by.
“It didn’t look like he fitted in. You don’t see many late 20s, early 30s men around here. He was heading up in that direction (of Ann’s house).
“They haven’t said anything back apart from the police rang to ask if I have CCTV, which I don’t.”
After laying flowers outside Widdecombe’s home on Saturday, Farage referred to a car being seen on her driveway.
He said: “One theory doing the rounds, I discussed this with the Prime Minister yesterday, is that it was a burglary that went wrong. But the car went onto the drive at approximately 12.25pm/12.30pm on Wednesday.
“She’d done one interview in the morning… and she was due to do another one at 1pm. So if you were a burglar, would you literally drive your car onto someone’s drive? You wouldn’t.
“From what I can see of it, from what I can make out, this was premeditated murder. Whether it was politically motivated, whether it was somebody with a grudge, I don’t think it pays at this moment in time to speculate.”
On Saturday, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said detectives were making progress and “pursuing a number of lines of enquiry” but asked members of the public not to speculate. They added a manhunt was under way for a suspect, believed to be a white male.
“Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined,” he said.
A 26-year-old man, who was arrested on Friday after the former Conservative prisons minister was found dead, is no longer part of the “fast-moving” investigation, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
There is no information to suggest that Widdecombe’s death was politically motivated, and terrorism has been ruled out, they added.
Detectives are understood to be looking at whether Widdecombe was killed after disturbing an intruder at her home.
Widdecombe’s last known public appearance was on Talk TV the day before she was found dead.
The former MP was interviewed on the channel on Wednesday and was asked about her views on Farage’s decision to resign as an MP.
Police enquiries later established that Widdecombe was attacked and killed just over four hours after her Talk TV appearance.
At 12.19pm a Channel 5 researcher received a message from Widdecombe about setting up a video statement.
Half an hour later, at 12.48, the Channel 5 researcher messaged her again, according to ITV reports, asking her to join a Zoom link before the interview but she does not reply.
It later emerged she had been scheduled to appear on Matt Allwright’s Channel 5 programme at 2.15pm that afternoon, but – unusually for such a punctilious and professional former politician – she failed to appear.
The alarm was raised on Thursday after a friend became concerned they had been unable to contact the 78-year-old former government minister, who lived alone.
It is understood they asked a neighbour to check on her, but when the neighbour arrived at the secluded bungalow, they made the discovery.
Officers, accompanied by paramedics, attended the property, but Widdecombe was declared dead at the scene.
Floral tributes were left outside Widdecombe’s home overnight as police continued to work behind a cordon.
Neighbours have said few residents, including Widdecombe, took many security measures, such was their sense of safety in the small Dartmoor community.
Peter Cornthwaite, 66, a contractor from nearby Smokey Cross, told reporters that he never saw any security at the house.
“She didn’t have a secure garden, no gate or anything,” he said. “It’s very quiet round here. We leave our doors and windows unlocked.
“After renaming the house after herself, anyone who wanted to find her would have been able to.”
A woman in her 90s told The Telegraph: “We are all shocked,” adding: “Murders happen to other people, they don’t happen in your own neighbourhood.”
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said the area had no history of burglaries apart from a case of farming equipment being stolen a decade ago.
Another neighbour said: “She gave her life to public service, it is a tragedy for it to have happened.”
Christine Maloney, who lives near Widdecombe’s home, said the area was “very safe” and it was not unusual for residents to leave their cars and front doors unlocked.
“My husband saw her a week ago, driving around,” she said of the former MP, adding that “Everyone knows that’s her house, perhaps that’s the problem?”
Widdecombe’s death prompted mourning across the political divide, with Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, describing her as a “distinguished politician” whose death was a “huge, huge loss”, and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, describing her as a “very fun and feisty woman who spoke her mind”.
She was a Tory MP from 1987 to 2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone – later Maidstone and the Weald – and held several ministerial positions in Sir John Major’s government.
She was remembered for her clash with her colleague Michael Howard, the home secretary at the time, when she was Home Office minister, describing him as having “something of the night about him”.
Lord Howard, writing in The Telegraph, said he had since made up with his former colleague, stating: “We are all deeply shocked by the tragic apparent murder of Ann Widdecombe.
“Of course any murder is horrific, particularly when the victim is an elderly person peacefully living out their well-earned retirement.
“But there is an extra element of shock and horror when the victim is a well-known public personality, much loved by many, not least for her feisty appearances on Strictly Come Dancing. When asked by a friend if she enjoyed dancing, she said: “Oh no, I wasn’t dancing. I was putting the pantomime into Strictly.” And this she certainly did.”
Lord Howard added: “Feisty” is a word many have used to describe Ann and it certainly fitted. She had robust views and never held back in expressing them. She had a deep Christian faith and a strong sense of duty. And she brought all these qualities into her political career.”