Ann Widdecombe investigation: police release man arrested on suspicion of former MP’s murder – latest updates | UK news
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As we mentioned in the opening article, Widdecombe, who appeared on TalkTV on Wednesday, lived in a 1970s bungalow called Widdecombe’s Rest in the village of Haytor Vale in the Dartmoor national park.
A plaque bearing the name of the property was placed at the end of its journey.
Widdecombe was due to appear on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright program on Wednesday afternoon but did not attend. As first reported by ITV News.
He messaged a researcher on the program but did not respond when they tried to contact him to join a Zoom call from home.
ITV News said calls and messages sent after the show aired went unanswered and the Channel 5 show’s team contacted its manager later on Wednesday and Thursday.
Man arrested on suspicion of Ann Widdecombe’s murder released
A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former MP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police said early on Saturday.
The force’s deputy chief constable, Matt Longman, said in a statement: “Our priority is to identify those responsible and ensure that all available evidence is thoroughly examined.”
“Detectives continue to conduct multiple inquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we are committed to determining the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
He said the investigation was “moving at a significant pace.” Police had previously said there was no indication that the incident was a “politically motivated crime” and confirmed that the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related.
On Friday police said they were looking for a white male in connection with the death and later confirmed that a 26-year-old white British man had been arrested at an address in Newton Abbot, less than 10 miles from Widdecombe’s home in Haytor, Devon.
Widdecombe’s body was found “seriously injured” by the ambulance service at his home at 11.40am on Thursday.
He was the Conservative MP for the Kent constituency of Maidstone from 1987 to 2010. He became a member of the Brexit party in 2019 and served as an MP representing South West England between 2019 and 2020. He was also a member of that party’s successor, Reform UK.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform Britain, said Widdecombe’s alleged murder showed that life was becoming more dangerous for politicians in Britain. He said:
Our nation is a much poorer place without him. Reformation England is surely a much worse place without it. I expected to see him in Clacton in the next few days. Unfortunately this won’t happen.
Rest in peace Ann. An extraordinary, principled woman, a truly horrific way to die and a terrible reflection on modern Britain.
And I’m afraid for everyone in public life, or things have become even more dangerous, especially in the political sphere.
