Ann Widdecombe became a parliamentary member of the Conservative Party in the 1987 General Election. She had already made a name for herself as a councillor and cofounder of ‘Women and Families for Defence’ which opposed the increasingly popular argument of nuclear disarmament in Britain. In 1990 she became the Under-Secretary for Social Security in John Major’s Conservative Government. One of her most controversial roles was when she was appointed Minister of State for Prisons. Whilst in this role, Widdecombe would defend the Government’s policy of shackling pregnant inmates up to the point of active labour.
The Conservative Government would lose the 1997 General Election to a Labour landslide. Widdecombe would then become Shadow Health Secretary and later Shadow Home Secretary. After declining to run as party leader, and taking a backbench position after her supported candidate lost to Ian Duncan Smith, Widdecombe began to fall out of favour with her party colleagues. She would continue to back losing candidates before running for Speaker in 2009, she came in last. In 2010 she left the Conservative Party.
She reentried politics briefly in 2019 as a member of European Parliament for the Brexit Party, but this role was dissolved when Britain left the EU. In 2023 Widdecombe joined Reform UK as their Immigration Spokesperson. Widdecombe’s political career was entrenched in controversial ideas and policies. As a Catholic she opposed gay marriage and believed in conversion therapy, she was against abortion and was consistently in favour of harsh immigration and asylum policies.
Outside of politics, Widdecombe made a variety of TV appearances, notably including the BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. She wrote her autobiography and fiction novels including ‘The Clematis Tree’.
One of her best known appearances was when she featured on Louis Theroux’s ‘When Louis Met…’ while in office. For many it was the public’s first time seeing the politician behind closed doors, with the documentary including an incident where she was heckled and attacked with eggs whilst giving a speech on asylum seeker policy.
On Wednesday 8th of July it was announced that Ann Widdecombe died at age 78. Later the police would announce they were opening an investigation into her death under suspicion she had been murdered. Devon and Cornwall Police would report she was found in her home with “serious injuries”. On Saturday the police arrested a 28 year old man on suspicion of a politically motivated murder, and the investigation is now being handled by counter-terrorism police.
Widdecombe’s death was met with national attention. Prime Minister Kier Starmer described her death as a “huge loss” for British politics and said that this should be a “moment where we rise above any political differences.”
A member of staff at Aberdeen university is currently being investigated for comments she made about Widdecombe’s death on Bluesky where she said she hoped Widdecombe suffered an “extremely painful death.” These comments have been met with public outcry.
