When the residents of Haytor Vale first heard police sirens on Thursday morning they assumed there had been an accident on the moors.
Surrounded by the imposing granite outcrops of Haytor and Hound Tor, scene of the haunting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle crime novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, villagers are far more accustomed to the warning signs that Dartmoor Search and Rescue are passing through than those of armed police vans.
Most people in the village never lock their doors and in a heatwave, even ground floor windows of the 25 or so mostly-detached, well-maintained houses in Haytor village are left open for days on end.
Like many residents, Ann Widdecombe moved to the beautiful village, with views for miles across to the Teign estuary, to get away from it all, setting herself up “for the rest of my days” in a bungalow she named ‘Widdecombe’s Rest’.
“A lot of people think it means rest, as in having a rest,” she once told an interviewer at local news site DevonLive with a trademark grin. “But what it actually means is the rest of Widdecombe’s life!”
Her bungalow, purchased for an estimated £600,000 in 2008, sits at a quiet crossroads at the top of the village surrounded by expansive well-kept lawns, with an outdoor swimming pool complete with slide at the back of the house, with she reportedly had built with the money she earned from her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing with Anton du Beke in 2010.
But despite living in a tiny community with just a handful of neighbours, the 78-year-old former Tory MP and prisons minister played a limited role in village life.
She once said told an interviewer at Moorlander magazine: “I came here for the peace and quiet. I know my neighbours, but if I want to see my friends, I go to London. When you’re my age, your friends are scattered all over, and my friends visit here, especially as I have a swimming pool.”
And it’s fair to say that as an outspoken celebrity politician in a place that’s as far away from celebrity culture and Westminster politics as you can get in England, she was an anomaly.
Most of her neighbours said they barely knew her, beyond a polite greeting in the street. She certainly wasn’t part of her neighbour’s WhatsApp group, which had been pinging furiously since the arrival of dozens of police to her home.
One neighbour said she thought Ms Widdecombe’s gardener, who arrived every Thursday morning, may have found the diminutive politician, who was pronounced dead, having allegedly suffered a head injury. Others suggested her friend and carer, who is believed to have lived nearby, found her at home.
Always outspoken and a regular talk show guest, she had appeared on Talk TV the day before her death to defend Nigel Farage’s by-election stunt in Clacton.
“She was just a sweet little old lady,” said one villager, keen to stay anonymous – and to avoid speaking ill of her deceased neighbour. “She did used to say hello when I cycled past her. She might even have made the odd comment about me being puffed out cycling up the hill. I hated her politics but she was nice enough.”
Those divisive politics – and the Reform UK flags around her bungalow at election time – meant some of her neighbours said they didn’t tend to speak much to her.
“Let’s just say we didn’t agree with her politics,” said one close neighbour. “She used to put Reform UK flags outside her house. She didn’t agree with women being ordained so she joined the Catholic church. She didn’t really speak to many people around here.”
A practising Christian, Ms Widdecombe converted to Catholicism in 1993, telling the New Statesman at the time that the ordination of women was the “last straw”. She regularly joined Sunday morning services at nearby Buckfast Abbey.
She switched allegiance from the Tories to the Brexit Party in 2019 and served as the Brexit Party MEP for South West England from 2019 to 2020. She then joined Reform UK in 2023, acting as the party’s immigration and justice spokesman.
Craig Matthews, a private estate manager on Dartmoor, said he used to see her driving around in a small blue car and occasionally in the local shop – a half hour walk or five-minute drive away in neighbouring Ilsington.
“I’ve only met her a couple of times in the village shop,” said the 34-year-old. “Everyone knew who she was but if I’m honest, she seemed a bit rude. I would see her driving past and say hello. I didn’t agree with her politically but never wished anything like this to happen to anyone. It’s quite shocking, everyone is shock and disbelief.”
“She was quite a controversial figure,” said another. “But no one deserves that. I didn’t really know her. Though she used to do talks at the WI and stuff round here and by all accounts she was very funny.”
Ms Widdecombe’s death was announced by her management company, Cloud9 Management, on Friday morning. In a statement they said: “It is with great shock and sadness that today we announced the passing of the Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe DSG, aged 78. Cloud9 Management represented Ann for over a decade and we will miss her greatly.
“Her life and career were driven by her strong Christian values and commitment to public service. She loved the cut and thrust of political debate and, 16 years after leaving parliament, was still actively campaigning for Reform UK and offering forthright views on the hot topics of the day across numerous radio and television programmes.
“A consummate professional and a delight to work with, indefatigable to the last, we know this news will come as a great shock to the many colleagues and friends she made along the way and our sympathies go to them and her family.’
Just before 4pm on Friday, Devon and Cornwall Police announced they had launched a murder inquiry into her death and by 6pm, they released a statement to say a 26-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of murder at an address in Newton Abbot, just a few miles from Haytor. He has since been released and is no longer part of the investigation.
Tributes have poured in from all sides of the political spectrum, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, describing her as “an absolute force of nature” and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch calling her a “very fun and feisty woman who spoke her mind”.
Former Strictly partner Anton du Beke said: “She became a real friend. She was fun, she was upbeat. She was positive. This is a sad day and I’m devastated by the news of Ann’s passing, but I shall remember her fondly and miss her.”
