Ann Widdecombe Found Dead in Brutal Attack at Devon Home: Murder Probe Unfolds as Nation Mourns Political Icon
In the quiet rural setting of Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, the discovery of a body on the morning of 9 July 2026 sent shockwaves through British politics and beyond. Ann Widdecombe, the forthright former Conservative cabinet minister, Brexit campaigner, Reform UK spokesperson, and unexpected Strictly Come Dancing star, was found dead inside her own home at the age of 78. What began as reports of a sudden death quickly escalated into a full-scale murder investigation after police revealed she had sustained serious injuries in what prosecutors later described as a ferocious and targeted assault.
Devon and Cornwall Police were called by the ambulance service at approximately 11:40 BST on Thursday, 9 July. Officers located Widdecombe unresponsive within the property. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Emergency services and a significant police presence quickly sealed off the detached house in the isolated Dartmoor village, surrounded by fields and few neighbouring properties. Her next of kin were informed, and specially trained officers provided support.
Initial statements from Widdecombe’s management team at Cloud9 Management announced her death with deep sadness but offered no details of the circumstances. “It is with great sadness that today we announce the death of the Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe, DSG,” the statement read. “We send our deepest condolences to Ann’s family and friends. We ask that the family’s wish not to be contacted at this sad time is respected.” By the afternoon of 10 July, however, police confirmed a murder investigation was under way. Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman stated that officers had found Widdecombe with serious injuries and that detectives from the force’s major crime investigation team were conducting extensive inquiries.
Police initially assessed that the incident was not terror-related and had no information suggesting it was politically motivated. Counter-terrorism policing was consulted as a precaution during early inquiries but the case was not classified as terrorism at that stage. A cordon remained in place while forensic examinations continued.
Investigators determined that the attack had occurred nearly 24 hours earlier. Widdecombe is believed to have been assaulted at around 12:30 BST on Wednesday, 8 July. That morning she had appeared remotely on TalkTV shortly after 8am. She was scheduled for a 1pm Zoom interview with Channel 5’s Matt Allwright programme. Text messages later revealed she had been coordinating the appearance and had last contacted a researcher at 12:19pm. She failed to join the call. Multiple follow-up messages and voice calls went unanswered. Production staff raised the alarm with her agent after she became uncontactable. The following day her personal assistant asked her gardener to check on her; he discovered her body on the kitchen floor.
Court proceedings in the days that followed provided a chilling account of the final moments. On 21 July at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, prosecutor Kashif Malik outlined the alleged sequence of events. Joshua Kerry, a 28-year-old white British national from Rotherham in South Yorkshire — more than 250 miles from Widdecombe’s home — was charged with her murder. He appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and was not asked to enter a plea. He was remanded in custody.
According to the prosecution, Kerry entered Widdecombe’s home through the front door while she was eating lunch. He was wearing black gloves and carried a hammer concealed at his side. He allegedly asked: “Don’t suppose you have bank cards and ID?” Before she could fully respond, he struck her on the head 21 times with the hammer. He then tipped her from her chair onto the floor, took her wallet, and left the property after approximately two minutes. Home security camera footage is said to have recorded the incident. The provisional cause of death was given as blunt force injury to the head. An inquest opening at Exeter Coroner’s Court heard that a post-mortem examination had taken place but the precise medical cause remained to be fully established at that stage.
Kerry had been arrested on 11 July at an address in Rotherham. An earlier arrest of a 26-year-old man in Newton Abbot, roughly 10 miles from Haytor, had been made on suspicion of murder; that individual was later released and is no longer part of the investigation. Police appealed for public information and received more than 120 reports. CCTV footage reportedly showed a man matching Kerry’s description getting into a red vehicle in Yorkshire hours before the attack, with a long object appearing to protrude from his shorts pocket.
On 13 July, counter-terrorism police took over the lead of the investigation following “new information and evidence.” The suspect was re-arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. National Counter Terrorism Policing head Laurence Taylor said multiple lines of enquiry were being pursued to establish the motivation. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the House of Commons that the suspect was not known to the Prevent programme. Detectives continued to investigate possible political motives, though no terrorism charges had been brought by late July. A heightened police presence remained in the local area.
Ann Noreen Widdecombe was born on 4 October 1947 in Bath, Somerset, the only daughter of James Widdecombe, a senior Admiralty official, and Rita (née Plummer). Educated at La Sainte Union Convent in Bath, she studied Latin at the University of Birmingham before reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. At Oxford she served as secretary and later treasurer of the Oxford Union. Her early political motivation, she later recalled, was to “fight socialism.”
After working in industry and as an administrator, and serving as a Runnymede District councillor, she contested parliamentary seats unsuccessfully in 1979 and 1983. In 1987 she was elected Conservative MP for the safe Kent seat of Maidstone (later Maidstone and The Weald), which she held until 2010. She rose quickly through the ranks under John Major. She served as Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, then for Employment, and from 1995 as Minister of State for Prisons at the Home Office. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1997. In opposition she held shadow cabinet posts as Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary.
Widdecombe became known for her uncompromising social conservatism. A longstanding opponent of abortion, she supported legislation that helped reduce the time limit for terminations from 28 to 24 weeks. She converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism in the early 1990s after the Church of England voted to ordain women priests, describing the Catholic Church’s clear stance on sin as “a blessed relief.” She was a vocal critic of aspects of modern liberalism and maintained a reputation for speaking her mind without regard for political fashion.
Her relationship with then-Home Secretary Michael Howard became strained; she was reported to have remarked privately that he had “something of the night about him.” After stepping down as an MP in 2010 she reinvented herself as a television personality. In 2010 she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Anton Du Beke. Despite consistently low scores from the judges, public affection kept the pair in the competition for nine weeks, reaching the later stages. Her enthusiastic if unpolished performances — she cheerfully described her style as “galumphing” — made her a national favourite and launched a second career in entertainment. She later appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, Have I Got News For You, The Chase, and hosted her own quiz show.
Widdecombe remained politically active. A committed Eurosceptic, she supported the Vote Leave campaign. In 2019 she stood successfully as a Brexit Party candidate for the European Parliament, representing South West England until the UK’s departure from the EU in January 2020. When the party evolved into Reform UK she rejoined in 2023 as immigration and justice spokesperson, continuing to campaign and appear regularly on radio and television until her death. Nigel Farage described her as “a force of nature.” Conservative leaders past and present, including Kemi Badenoch, paid tribute to her conviction and distinctive presence in public life.
In her later years Widdecombe lived a quieter life on Dartmoor while remaining an outspoken commentator. She shared her home in London with her widowed mother until Rita’s death in 2007. Friends recalled a woman who valued her own company, combined strong Christian faith with a dry sense of humour, and never softened her principles for popularity. Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth once described her as “a curious mix of Danny DeVito and Margaret Rutherford.”
The location of the attack — a remote property on the edge of Dartmoor National Park — has added to the sense of violation. Haytor itself is a well-known granite outcrop and tourist attraction, a landscape of open moorland, rocky tors and dramatic skies that stands in stark contrast to the violence that occurred there. Local residents expressed shock that such a crime could take place in their quiet community. Police maintained a visible presence in the days following the discovery, with forensic teams examining the property and surrounding area.
As the investigation continued into late July, Widdecombe’s family announced plans for a private funeral service for family and close friends in the coming weeks, with invitations already distributed. A public memorial is expected later in the year; details will be released in due course. The family acknowledged the significant public interest while requesting privacy at this time.
Tributes have poured in from across the political spectrum and from the entertainment world. Anton Du Beke spoke of his devastation at the loss of his former dance partner. Reform UK colleagues and former Conservative colleagues alike remembered a woman of principle who never shrank from controversy and who remained engaged in public debate long after most of her generation had retired. Animal charities of which she was a patron also paid their respects.
The case has raised broader questions about the security of public figures living away from the political centres of London and Westminster. While police have pursued leads linking the suspect to possible extremist motivations, the precise reasons for the alleged attack remain under investigation. What is clear is the human cost: a woman who spent decades in public service, who entertained millions with her dancing, and who continued to argue her corner with characteristic bluntness until the final hours of her life, met a violent end in the place she called home.
Ann Widdecombe leaves a complex legacy. To admirers she was a courageous defender of traditional values, a successful parliamentarian, and a cheerful television personality who refused to take herself too seriously on the dance floor. To critics she was an unyielding social conservative whose views belonged to an earlier era. Few, however, disputed her authenticity or her willingness to stand by her convictions. In the kitchen of a Dartmoor cottage on a July afternoon, those convictions and that long public life were brought to a sudden and brutal close. The courts will now determine the full circumstances and the responsibility for her death. Until then, Britain remembers a distinctive, combative and singular figure whose voice has been silenced.
The investigation continues. Anyone with information is urged to contact Devon and Cornwall Police.