Police release suspect in Ann Widdecombe murder investigation

British police have released a 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former lawmaker Ann Widdecombe, saying he is no longer part of the investigation into the death that has renewed concerns about the safety of politicians in the United Kingdom.

Widdecombe, 78, was found dead with serious injuries at her home in rural southwest England on Thursday. Devon and Cornwall Police said detectives now believe she was attacked around 11:30 GMT on Wednesday, a day before ambulance workers called police to the property.

The man, described by police as a white British national, was arrested Friday in Newton Abbot, about nine miles from Widdecombe’s home, Al Jazeera reported. Police said Saturday he had been released and was no longer part of the inquiry. Officers said they had found no evidence that the killing was terrorism-related or politically motivated, and said there was no wider risk to the public.

“Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace. We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened,” Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman of Devon and Cornwall Police said. A large police presence remained outside Widdecombe’s home Saturday as investigators continued their work.

Widdecombe was one of Britain’s most recognizable politicians. She served as a Conservative member of Parliament for two decades and was a junior minister in Conservative Prime Minister John Major’s 1992-1997 government before later becoming a television personality. More recently, she served as justice spokesperson for the hard-right Reform UK party, and Al Jazeera reported she had been the party’s immigration spokesperson.

She was known for strong socially conservative views. She opposed abortion and equalizing the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual relationships, and converted to Catholicism partly in protest at the Church of England’s ordination of women as priests. Al Jazeera reported that she defended shackling pregnant prisoners during childbirth to prevent escape and viewed single mothers as poor role models, while also opposing fox hunting with hounds, an unusual position among Conservative lawmakers.

News of her death drew tributes and expressions of shock from across British politics. Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “shocking news.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she was “stunned” and “really struggled to find the words.” Interior minister Shabana Mahmood described the circumstances as “extremely distressing” and urged the public “to avoid speculation and allow the police investigation to progress.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called Widdecombe “an extraordinary woman” in a video posted on X. “She stood up and fought for what she believed in – a devout Christian and somebody with strong, socially conservative views,” he said.

Farage also said he feared that “for anybody in public life, or especially the political space, things have become even more dangerous to them.” He added: “We don’t know what political motives are, whether they exist at all. Was it a burglary gone wrong? We just don’t know.”

The case has drawn attention because two serving members of Parliament were murdered in the past decade. Labour MP Jo Cox was killed in 2016 outside her constituency office in Birstall, West Yorkshire. Her husband, Brendan Cox, wrote in the Daily Mirror that Widdecombe’s death brought back “all of the pain and emotion” of losing his wife. “We obviously don’t know and can’t speculate on the motivation, rationale and motive for the attack,” he wrote. “But what we can say is that there is nothing that could ever justify an attack like this.”

Conservative lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group. Ali Harbi Ali received a whole-life sentence for the murder in 2022.

Andrew Barclay, a politics lecturer at the University of Sheffield, told NBC News that Widdecombe’s death “certainly comes within the backdrop of MPs’ safety becoming more and more of a concern.” Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, said politicians are “right to worry and right to ask for protection.”