Ann Widdecombe, former Tory MP and Reform UK member, dies aged 78

The former Conservative government minister Ann Widdecombe has died aged 78, her management have said.Widdecombe, who served as an MP and an MEP during a lengthy and often controversial political career, also gained notoriety as a television personality in later life. Besides the Tories, she was also a member of the Brexit Party and its successor, Reform.“She loved the cut-and-thrust of political debate and, 16 years after leaving parliament, was still actively campaigning for Reform UK and offering forthright views on the hot topics of the day across numerous radio and television programmes,” her representatives Cloud9 Management said on Friday.“Ann was a valued patron of many causes, particularly her animal charities.“As Ann once said on The Graham Norton Show, ‘we get one go this side of eternity, one go. Life is not a dress rehearsal, you take opportunities that you like and you go for it, that’s my philosophy.’”Widdecombe held ministerial positions in John Major’s government, where she clashed with her Conservative colleague Michael Howard – with whom she had served in the Home Office – describing him as having “something of the night about him”.She also clashed with Michael Portillo, and the “backbiters” who surrounded him when he disastrously failed in his bid to become Tory leader in 2001. Widdecombe said she would never have served under him if he had become leader.Throughout her political career, Widdecombe was a prominent Eurosceptic and supported the Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum. She was known for her socially conservative views, which included opposing the legality of abortion and wider rights for the LGBT community during her Commons career. And she also faced flak for defending a policy of chaining pregnant prisoners to their beds.Her managers portrayed her political views as the result of what she saw as “strong Christian values and commitment to public service”.Widdecombe was a Conservative MP between 1987 and 2010 for the Kent constituency of Maidstone, later Maidstone and the Weald. She became a member of the Brexit Party from 2019 and served as an MEP representing South West England in Brussels between 2019 and 2020.After Nigel Farage set up Reform UK to continue to work of the Brexit Party, Widdecombe followed, appearing at its party conference the next year as its immigration spokesperson.The health secretary, James Murray, said Widdecombe was “never shy of having quite firm views” and everyone “can recognise the contribution that she made to politics”.He told Times Radio on Friday: “I think she’s been such a large part of our politics for many years. I mean, she was never shy of having quite firm views and sharing them quite willingly, and I can’t say I always agreed with her views, but she was such a part of our politics.“I think everyone can kind of recognise the contribution that she made to politics and the role that she played in our public life.”In her post-Commons career, Widdecombe appeared on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, partnered with Anton Du Beke, and managed to reach the competition’s quarter-final thanks to the public vote.Her management company’s statement said: “For many, of course, she will be best (or worst?) remembered for her unforgettable appearances on Strictly Come Dancing, defying the judges week after week as the public delighted in her unsuccessful attempts to follow the choreography of the longsuffering Anton Du Beke.“A consummate professional and a delight to work with, indefatigable to the last, we know this news will come as a great shock to the many colleagues and friends she made along the way and our sympathies go to them and her family.”Widdecombe said she had no interest in sex, and never married.