A 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murdering former MP and MEP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, police said.
The former Conservative prisons minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.
Widdecombe, who was 78, later became a Brexit Party MEP and subsequently a Reform UK spokeswoman.
She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.
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On Saturday Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed the man’s release from custody, following his arrest on Friday.
Assistant chief constable Matt Longman said: “Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined.
“Detectives continue to carry out numerous enquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we remain committed to establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident.”
He said the investigation was “moving at a significant pace”, adding: “We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened.
“We will release further information when we are able to do so. In the meantime, I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media.
“This is not only potentially harmful to our investigation but also deeply distressing for family and friends of Miss Widdecombe. The family have also asked for their privacy to be respected as they come to terms with what has happened.
Devon and Cornwall Police previously said the cause of death is “not being treated as terrorism” and there is “no information” at this time to suggest it was a “politically-motivated crime”.
In a statement on social media, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the former MP and MEP’s death, and subsequent police murder investigation, was a “terrible reflection on modern Britain”.
In a video statement published on social media, he said: “And I do fear that for anybody in public life, or especially the political space, things have become even more dangerous today.”
Meanwhile, prime minister Keir Starmer urged people to come together across political divides following the murder.
Widdecombe was a Conservative MP between 1987 and 2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone, later Maidstone and the Weald, and held several ministerial positions in Sir John Major’s government.
In her post-Commons career, she appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, partnered with Anton du Beke, and survived until the competition’s semi-finals thanks to the public vote.
She became a member of Farage’s Brexit Party in 2019 and served as an MEP representing southwest England in Brussels between 2019 and 2020.
She later became immigration and justice spokeswoman for Farage’s Reform UK and remained active in the media – she appeared on TalkTV on Wednesday, the day before she was found dead.
Widdecombe was also due to be a guest on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show on Wednesday afternoon, but did not appear, as first reported by ITV.
She had exchanged messages with a researcher from the show, but did not respond when they tried to contact her to join a Zoom call from home.
Calls and texts sent after the programme aired remained unanswered, ITV said, and the Channel 5 show’s team followed up with her agent later on Wednesday and on Thursday.
