Joshua Kerry to appear in court over Ann Widdecombe killing

Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday over the death of Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister and Reform UK spokeswoman found dead at her home in Devon on 9 July 2026.

Police have described Widdecombe's death as a “targeted attack” and said counter-terrorism detectives are leading the investigation. Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor has said detectives are keeping an open mind about motive as they examine the killing.

Widdecombe was 78 and remained a recognisable public figure long after leaving frontline politics. She served as a Conservative minister and later became a Reform UK spokeswoman, making her death a case with immediate political and public significance as well as criminal implications.

The investigation has already moved through several stages. Search result reporting indicates that a 26-year-old white British man was initially arrested in connection with the case before attention shifted to Kerry. Police have also been examining whether the attack had a political or extremist motive, a line of inquiry that keeps the case within the remit of counter-terror policing.

Devon and Cornwall Police first found Widdecombe dead at her home in Devon, prompting a major response that brought in Counter Terrorism Policing. The involvement of specialist detectives has reflected the seriousness with which officers are treating the case, and the fact that a prominent national political figure was the victim has intensified scrutiny of how such attacks are investigated.

The case has also drawn attention beyond the immediate inquiry because it sits at the intersection of public life, security and violence. When a former cabinet minister is killed in her own home and the investigation is handed to counter-terror detectives, the court process that follows becomes part of a wider assessment of risk around political figures and the protections surrounding them.