British politician and media personality (born 1947)
The Right Honourable
Ann Widdecombe
DSG
Widdecombe in 2009
Minister of State for Prisons
In office 28 February 1995 – 2 May 1997
Prime Minister
John Major
Preceded by
Michael Forsyth
Succeeded by
Joyce Quin
Minister of State for Employment[a]
In office 27 May 1993 – 5 July 1995
Prime Minister
John Major
Preceded by
Patrick McLoughlin
Succeeded by
Lord Henley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security
In office 30 November 1990 – 27 May 1993
Prime Minister
John Major
Preceded by
Gillian Shephard
Succeeded by
William Hague
Member of the European Parliament for South West England
In office 2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded by
Julia Reid
Succeeded by
Constituency abolished
Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald Maidstone (1987–1997)
In office 11 June 1987 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by
John Wells
Succeeded by
Helen Grant
Shadow Cabinet offices
1998–1999
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
1999–2001
Shadow Home Secretary
Personal details
Born
Ann Noreen Widdecombe
(1947-10-04) 4 October 1947 (age 76) Bath, Somerset, England
Political party
Reform UK (2023–present)[1]
Other political affiliations
Conservative (1976–2019) Brexit Party (2019–2021) Independent (2021–2023)
Residence(s)
London, England Sutton Valence, Kent, England Haytor Vale, Dartmoor, Devon, England
Alma mater
University of Birmingham Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Ann Noreen WiddecombeDSG (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 2019 to 2020. Originally a member of the Conservative Party, she was a member of the Brexit Party from 2019 until it was renamed Reform UK in 2021;[2] she rejoined Reform UK in 2023.
Born in Bath, Somerset, Widdecombe read Latin at the University of Birmingham and later studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is a religious convert from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, and was a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. She served as Minister of State for Employment from 1994 to 1995 and Minister of State for Prisons from 1995 to 1997. She later served in the Shadow Cabinet of William Hague as Shadow Secretary of State for Health from 1998 to 1999 and Shadow Home Secretary from 1999 to 2001. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1997.
Widdecombe stood down from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election. Since 2002, she has made numerous television and radio appearances, including as a television presenter. A prominent Eurosceptic, in 2016 she supported the Vote Leave campaign to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU). Widdecombe returned to politics as the lead candidate for the Brexit Party in South West England at the 2019 European Parliament election, winning the seat in line with results nationally, serving until the country left the EU on 31 January 2020. In the general election of December 2019 – as with all other candidates for the Commons fielded by the Brexit Party – she did not win the seat she contested (Plymouth Sutton and Devonport), but retained her deposit and came third.
Ideologically, Widdecombe identifies herself as a social conservative and stresses the importance of traditional values and conservatism. As a member of the House of Commons, she opposed the legality of abortion, opposed granting LGBT people legal rights such as the same age of consent as heterosexuals and the repeal of Section 28. She supported reintroduction of the death penalty for murder, though more narrowly applied than previously. She is opposed to all forms of assisted dying. She has a history of supporting rigorous laws on animal protection and opposition to fox hunting.
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^Langford, Eleanor (20 March 2023). "Nigel Farage insists 'Brexit is not completely done' as Reform UK calls on Tory MPs to defect". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
^"Ann Widdecombe demands Tories 'end cancel culture' in the lead-up to the leadership election". YouTube.
Ann Noreen Widdecombe DSG (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and...
twelve. In series eight, he partnered Conservative politician AnnWiddecombe. Despite Widdecombe's poor dancing ability, they made it through to the quarter...
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actress, host and producer Ann Welch (1917–2002), gliding, hang gliding, paragliding and microlight flying pilot AnnWiddecombe (born 1947), British politician...
won high-profile defections from the Conservative Party, including AnnWiddecombe and Annunziata Rees-Mogg. It also won some endorsements from some left-wing...
an episode of the ITV documentary series AnnWiddecombe Versus in which the then Conservative MP AnnWiddecombe spent a week with him and tried to persuade...
alongside AnnWiddecombe in 2011. Then in December 2012, he played the same role at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe, again alongside Widdecombe and also...
Widdecombe, Widecombe, Widdicombe or Widdicomb could refer to: AnnWiddecombe (born 1947), British politician Angus Widdicombe (born 1994), Australian...
featuring testimonials from British celebrities Sharon Osbourne, McFly and AnnWiddecombe showing their support for Mr Saxon, a version of which is seen in the...
series 24 Hours in the Past, along with Colin Jackson, Alistair McGowan, AnnWiddecombe, Tyger Drew-Honey and Zoe Lucker which went out between 28 April and...
Farage defended AnnWiddecombe, a Brexit Party candidate, for remarks that were perceived to be supportive of gay conversion therapy. Widdecombe had stated...
members David Blunkett and John Redwood, future Shadow Cabinet minister AnnWiddecombe, and future SNP Leader Alex Salmond. MPs who left the House of Commons...
the Gulf War, and split into two sections, with two different panels. Dr Ann Robinson, head of policy unit at the Institute of Directors. Rhiannon Chapman...
the most explicit mainstream film to be so rated in the country. MP AnnWiddecombe complained about the film in the UK House of Commons and calling on...
candidate coming second and the former Conservative MP and Brexit Party MEP AnnWiddecombe a distant third. He was promoted to shadow environment secretary after...
this that Portillo did not stand in the 1997 leadership election.) AnnWiddecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, took preliminary soundings but found that...
Bear, Jimmy Carr, Perrie Edwards, David Spade, David Walliams, and AnnWiddecombe into a false audition for a third Borat film, convincing them to act...
stated in a letter to The Times that they back the NOtoAV campagain. AnnWiddecombe Lord Owen Robert Winston Ross Kemp David Gower Darren Gough James Cracknell...
Robert Rowland Louis Stedman-Bryce John Tennant Richard Tice James Wells AnnWiddecombe Eighth European Parliament (elected on the UKIP list in 2014) Tim Aker...
TV News". Digital Spy. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2012. "AnnWiddecombe, Alex James, Eamonn Holmes for ITV1's 'Celebrity Chase'". Digital Spy...