Police investigating the murder of veteran politician Ann Widdecombe say they are keeping an “open mind” about a possible motive after arresting a 28-year-old suspect in Rotherham.
Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said there was still no evidence of a political or terror-related motivation behind the former Tory minister’s killing at her Dartmoor home this week.
Officers arrested a white British man some 220 miles away in South Yorkshire on Saturday evening and say they are not looking for anybody else at this stage.
Police believe Ms Widdecome, 78, was attacked at around 12.30pm on Wednesday, nearly 24 hours before police found her deceased at her home, after she suffered “serious injuries”.
Newly released text exchanges between Ms Widdecome and a Channel 5 producer show she was responding to messages until 12.19pm, when she abruptly went silent and missed a remote interview.
Mr Longman urged caution over speculating what may have happened or the reasons behind the attack.
“We are aware of online and public speculation, particularly with regards to motive,” he said, adding: “I urge people not to share or engage with that speculation. It’s unhelpful.”
“It doesn’t aid our investigation, and particularly, it’s distressing to the family and friends of Miss Widdecombe,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had said earlier that he had fears for “anybody in public life”, adding “we don’t know what political motives are, whether they exist at all”.
Senior Reform politicians were reported to have been given round-the-clock security protection in the wake of the death of Ms Widdecombe, who had served as the party’s Immigration and Justice spokesperson since 2023.
The Mail on Sunday claimed this included the party’s eight members of parliament and home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.
The newspaper also reported that Scotland Yard was believed to be carrying out its own assessment of the protection required for Reform politicians.
However, Mr Yusuf took to social media to clarify that the state is providing “no protection whatsoever”. He went further, accusing the government, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and the police of not caring “at all about the security of Reform MPs”.
“Several of our MPs have written to the above in recent months about distressing, escalating security concerns, asking for help. Their correspondence was not even replied to,” he claimed.
Sir Chris Bryant, Labour’s trade minister and Labour MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News that he had also received countless death threats in recent years.
Sir Chris pointed out that two other MPs, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, had been murdered in the past decade, saying: “We should be worried about the state of the British political debate.”
“I can’t tell you how many death threats I’ve had over the years, including several this year, including from one guy who’d only just been let out of prison,” he said. “You’re never quite sure how seriously to take them.”
He added that parliament and government have taken the issue much more seriously in the past 10 years, in his view. He also praised the police for the support they offer MPs.
Mr Farage told reporters on Saturday that Reform’s security teams were trawling emails to look for patterns of abuse directed at Ms Widdecombe. So far, they have not been able to find anything, he said.
“We all get abusive emails in public life. I can tell you that we have not been able to discern a specific pattern.”
An unnamed “highly placed” source told the Mail on Sunday that Ms Widdecombe’s family “don’t want her death hijacked for political purposes”, and said they were “very uneasy” about Mr Farage being at the scene on Saturday.
Police gave a brief update on Sunday, saying that it was important they “protect the integrity” of the investigation.
Mr Longman said there was still “some way to go in this case” and the release of more information would be decided on an “operational basis”.
He did reveal that a white British man had been arrested in Rotherham on Saturday evening. That came after police earlier released a 26-year-old they had arrested on suspicion of murder in Newton Abbot.
He also said that members of the public had already shared more than 120 pieces of information to help with the investigation and urged anyone else who believed they could help to do the same online via a dedicated police portal.
“I’d just like to thank all those who have taken the time to contribute that information, and ask anyone who has not yet submitted any information that they hold to do so as a priority,” he said.
