A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murder of Ann Widdecombe.

Joshua Kerry, of Byrley Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has been remanded in custody and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning, July 21.

Nobody else is being sought in connection with the former MP’s death.

Police enquiries into possible motives for the killing are ongoing, “including a potential political or terrorist connection”, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Head of National Counter Terrorism Policing Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “Given Ann Widdecombe’s profile and the targeted nature of the attack, determining the motivation, including any possible political motivation, remains an active avenue of investigation for our detectives.

“This has been, and remains, a particularly intensive and complex investigation.

“Over the last week, our teams have gathered a huge amount of information, leading to over 800 lines of enquiry. Each of those needs assessing, carefully and thoroughly, and I ask that we are given the time to do that.”

Devon and Cornwall Police officers were called to 78-year-old Ann Widdecombe's home at Haytor by the ambulance service at around 11.40am on Thursday, July 9. They found the former MP dead inside her home with serious injuries.

The force believes she was attacked the previous day at around 12.30pm.

Ann Widdecombe’s political career spanned decades, serving as MP for Maidstone in Kent for 23 years, before going on to join Reform UK. She was also the MEP for South West England for a brief period.

Ms Widdecombe served as a Home Office and an employment minister in Sir John Major's government between 1994 to 1997.

She also appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and was a runner-up on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.