A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of Ann Widdecombe, Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed. The former Conservative minister, who more recently worked as a Reform UK spokeswoman, was 78.

Widdecombe was found dead at her home on Dartmoor on Thursday morning. Police described the circumstances as "suspicious" — the first formal acknowledgement that officers were treating the death as unexplained and investigating it as a potential crime.

Counter-terror officers were consulted in the early stages, which is standard procedure when a high-profile public figure dies suddenly or in violent circumstances. Police confirmed, however, that the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related. That ruling narrows the focus of the investigation for the Major Crime Investigation Team.

Detectives said the inquiry is "in its early stages but moving at a significant pace," with specialist officers supporting the work. The force has not disclosed the identity of the arrested man, whether he had any connection to Widdecombe, or where he was arrested.

Widdecombe served as Conservative MP for Maidstone, later Maidstone and The Weald, from 1987 to 2010. She held office as Prisons Minister under John Major and became known in Parliament as an outspoken social conservative. After leaving the Commons, her career took an unconventional path: she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, briefly joined the Brexit Party, and most recently worked as a spokeswoman for Reform UK. That trajectory from mainstream Conservative frontbencher to spokesperson for a populist party has given her death significance beyond Devon politics.

Reactions from Westminster have so far been restrained, which is typical in the early hours of a murder inquiry when police priority is gathering evidence rather than generating commentary. Reform UK has not yet issued a statement about the arrest, and Conservative figures who worked alongside Widdecombe have similarly held back. That restraint may not persist once police decide whether to charge the suspect — a decision likely to prompt broader political reflection on her legacy.

For now, the confirmed facts remain narrow. Police have confirmed an arrest, a murder investigation, and that the death is suspicious. They have not confirmed a cause of death, a motive, or any established link between the arrested man and the victim. The critical next development will be when the Crown Prosecution Service makes its charging decision — whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to prosecution — and when Reform UK and the Conservative Party choose to comment publicly.

For readers outside England: policing in Devon falls under a territorial force answerable to the Home Office and the local Police and Crime Commissioner — not a matter involving Holyrood in Scotland, the Senedd in Wales, or Stormont in Northern Ireland. This is an English police force working under English and Welsh criminal law, with no implications for devolved justice systems elsewhere in the UK.