Jeremy Vine was moved to tears on his Channel 5 show while speaking about the death of Ann Widdecombe, who was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on July 9. The former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman, 78, sustained serious injuries, and police are treating her death as a murder investigation.
Emotional Tribute on Air
During the first episode of The Jeremy Vine Show since the murder confirmation, broadcaster Iain Dale, a close friend of Widdecombe, paid tribute. He told Vine: 'Can I just say one more thing in that, I think you know that she loved your programme. She loved coming on it, she loved your viewers and she loved you. You were part of her family, and she really spoke very highly of you, and I know you went out of your way to be kind to her.'
The camera then cut to Jeremy, who was seen fighting back tears before saying: 'Well, that’s too much to hear today. Thank you very much, Iain. Thank you so much.'
Vine's Opening Remarks
When opening the show, Jeremy addressed the news: 'Since we last spoke on Friday, we’ve heard that Ann Widdecombe, our friend and guest on more than 100 occasions, was murdered. We’ve had the weekend to think about this horrifying news. It was bad enough to know we would never see her face again, never hear her voice again, but to know that her life was taken in an act of violence is almost too much and we are thinking of all her family and friends as this horrible, horrible series of events plays out.'
Investigation Update
A 28-year-old white British man arrested on suspicion of her murder on July 11 has been rearrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Counter-terrorism police are now leading the investigation, with head of UK counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor stating that new information and evidence had come to light.
Miss Widdecombe had been scheduled to appear on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show at 1pm on July 9. ITV News published WhatsApp images showing she stopped responding after the approximate time of the attack. She last sent a message at 12.19pm acknowledging a Zoom link, reading 'Received! Panic Over!' but did not respond to a request to join the call at 12.48pm.
Allwright confirmed live on air at 1.27pm that she was booked but had not appeared. The production team followed up with her agent that evening and the next morning.
Social Media Tribute
After news of her death broke, Vine shared a tribute on Instagram: 'Today, we woke up to the sad news that Ann Widdecombe has passed away aged 78. She was a friend of the programme, a regular panellist and a formidable politician who was never, ever afraid to express her views, but also had a great sense of humour and was always up for a laugh. Farewell to an icon.'
