Ann Widdecombe

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 Widdecombe DSG (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.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).