British police release man arrested on suspicion of murdering former MP

British police today released a 26-year-old man suspected of murdering Anne Widdicombe, a former MP and reality TV star.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the man was no longer under investigation, but that "detectives are continuing to carry out a number of checks as part of the ongoing investigation."

Anne Widdecombe was found dead on Thursday in her isolated farmhouse in the village of Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in southwest England.

The suspect, who has since been released, was arrested on Friday in a nearby town.

Police later said they did not believe the murder was an act of terrorism, and that there was no information to suggest it was politically motivated.

The death has sent shockwaves through British politics, where Widdicombe was a prominent voice for decades, known for her strong personality and socially conservative views against abortion and expanding LGBTQ+ rights.

She was a member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament from 1987 to 2010, and was also the minister responsible for prisons in the Conservative government of Prime Minister John Major during the 1990s.

Widdicombe rose to fame after leaving parliament as a contestant on the reality shows "Strictly Come Dancing" and "Celebrity Big Brother."

She later joined the Brexit Party and briefly served as a member of the European Parliament before the UK left the European Union in 2020, while she recently joined Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform Party.

Farage said he was deeply shaken by Widdicombe's death, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the tragedy as "truly shocking news."

Security measures for politicians have been tightened following the murders of two members of parliament in the last ten years, with Labour MP Jo Cox shot and stabbed by a far-right extremist in 2016, while Conservative David Ames was stabbed by an Islamic State (IS)-inspired attacker in 2021.