Devon and Cornwall Police have opened a murder investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe, a former Conservative minister and recent spokeswoman for Reform UK, who was found dead at her Dartmoor home on Thursday morning. She was 78.

Police said Widdecombe was found with "serious injuries". The investigation was formally opened on Friday. Detectives are appealing for information about a white male suspect connected to her death, though no further details about his appearance, movements or any arrest have been released.

Widdecombe's political career spanned four decades. She represented Maidstone and then Maidstone and The Weald as a Conservative MP, serving as a minister at the Home Office under John Major before leaving Parliament in 2010. She returned to public prominence in recent years as a spokeswoman for Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage — she had switched to the Brexit Party in 2019 before joining Reform. Her moves between parties and her consistent socially conservative positions on issues like capital punishment and assisted dying made her widely recognised across Britain, beyond Westminster circles. Her appearance on the television show Strictly Come Dancing further raised her public profile.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer issued a statement expressing shock at the news. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also issued a statement. Both leaders confined their remarks to personal reactions to a death under criminal investigation — standard practice when a murder inquiry is active and details remain limited. Reform UK has not yet issued a formal statement, though a fuller response from party leadership would typically be expected once police release additional information.

Devon and Cornwall Police cover a large, sparsely populated rural area, and Dartmoor is a national park of isolated moorland and scattered settlements. This geography has historically made evidence-gathering difficult in serious crime investigations in the region. Police have not yet released operational details such as the exact location on Dartmoor, the time the body was discovered, or who found her.

What remains unclear is the sequence of events between Widdecombe last being seen and Thursday morning, and the precise nature of the injuries described. Police have not confirmed a cause of death or explained what evidence supports the appeal for information about the suspect. Until forensic and post-mortem findings become public, the investigation is likely to remain in its early phase — when police typically appeal for witnesses and any available CCTV or dashcam footage from the area.