Ann Widdecombe

 E Mail from Nigel Farage to Reform Members

Ann Widdecombe was an extraordinary woman - without doubt, the best-known and most outstanding female politician in Britain since Margaret Thatcher.

Ann spent many years in the Conservative Party. Then, in 2019, she joined us in the Brexit Party when we won the European elections, and was an outstanding colleague in the European Parliament. Beyond that, she became a loyal member alongside us all in Reform UK.

Ann reached, of course, far beyond politics through Strictly Come Dancing, Big Brother and her theatre tours. She wasn’t just a politician; she became a celebrity.

But the thing about Ann is that she never sought popularity for its own sake. She stood up and fought for what she believed in. 

She was a devout Christian and somebody with strong socially conservative views - perhaps not popular in the top circles of modern Britain, but Ann stood up for what she believed, regardless of fashion.

Ann could stand on a stage and give a speech to any crowd. She didn’t need prompts or notes. She knew in her heart and her mind what she believed was right. And people responded. 

I will never forget standing on stage with Ann at a Brexit Party rally in a former miners’ club in Yorkshire where she was cheered to the rafters by working people who, as she said, a few years earlier might have chased her out of the place as a Tory minister.

There were times over the years when she and I disagreed, and she never, ever, let me get away with anything. But our disagreements would be in private, not in public.

And that was Ann: loyal. She understood that this is a team game and we are all in this fight together.

I watched her interacting with drivers, waiters and waitresses. She was kind to everybody. This was somebody who gave her life to public service and to fighting for the things that she believed in. She herself would not have harmed a fly.

I’m deeply shocked and upset by the nature of her death. The police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. We don’t know whether there were any political motives, and I’m not going to speculate at this stage. I’m pleased that the police are doing their job.

What I do know for certain is that our nation is a much poorer place without her. Reform UK is certainly a poorer place without her.

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I was expecting to see her in Clacton, campaigning in the by-election, over the course of the next few days. Sadly, that is not going to happen.

I do fear that, for anybody in public life - and especially those in politics willing to take a stand - things have become even more dangerous today.

Rest in peace, Ann. A remarkable, principled woman. It was a truly dreadful way to die - and a terrible reflection on modern Britain.

We need Ann Widdecombes more than ever. We will honour her memory by fighting to make Britain the kind of country that she wanted to live in, for future generations.

Yours,

Nigel Farage

Leader, Reform UK