Police revise Ann Widdecombe murder timeline, investigators say former UK MP attacked nearly a day before being found dead, early arrest ends with release

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Ann Widdecombe: police believe former MP was attacked almost 24 hours before being found dead – latest updates theguardian.com

standard.co.uk

A day after police were called to Ann Widdecombe’s home on Dartmoor, Devon and Cornwall Police said they now believe the former UK MP was attacked almost 24 hours before her body was found. Officers were called by the ambulance service to a property in Haytor at about 11:40am on Thursday, where Widdecombe was found dead with serious injuries, according to the Guardian’s live coverage and the Evening Standard.

Investigators say the attack likely happened around lunchtime the previous day, shifting the focus of the inquiry from a narrow window to a full day in which the former politician may have been injured and unseen. Police said they are conducting house-to-house inquiries and reviewing CCTV, with a cordon and forensic examinations continuing at the scene. A suspect description circulated by police refers to a white male, while officers have also appealed for information via a dedicated online portal and through Crimestoppers.

The case has quickly become a test of how much practical protection public figures can expect once they are no longer surrounded by the routines of office. Widdecombe remained a familiar national name—first elected as a Conservative MP in the 1980s, later an MEP for the Brexit Party and a spokeswoman for Reform UK, and also a regular presence in broadcast entertainment—but she lived in a small community where neighbours told reporters it was normal to leave doors unlocked. That contrast matters for policing: the same openness that makes a place feel safe also reduces the number of controlled entry points, witnesses and surveillance that can narrow a suspect pool.

Devon and Cornwall Police said they do not believe there is a wider risk to the public and that the case is not being treated as terrorism, with no information suggesting a political motive. That framing may reassure residents, but it also narrows the public narrative to an individual crime in a country where political life has become increasingly personalised and online speculation travels faster than formal updates. Police explicitly asked the public not to speculate on social media—an acknowledgement that uncontrolled crowdsourcing can contaminate testimony and generate false leads that still have to be checked.

A 26-year-old man was arrested at an address in Newton Abbot on suspicion of murder, but was later released from custody, according to the Press Association report carried by the Standard. With the timeline now extended and an early arrest not leading to a charge, the inquiry appears to be moving into the slower work of reconstructing movements and contacts hour by hour.

On Saturday, the police cordon remained in place around the property in Haytor. The updated estimate of when the attack occurred leaves a concrete question hanging over the village: what, if anything, was seen on Wednesday lunchtime that did not look important at the time.