Ann Widdecombe’s suspected murder comes five years after the tragic killing of her “best friend” Sir David Amess. The two became close during their time as Conservative MPs, spending more than two decades together in the House of Commons.
Such was their close bond, Ann was entrusted with reading out a family statement at Sir David’s funeral in 2021. It included the plaintive words: “Please let some good come from this tragedy.”
The veteran Tory MP, 69, was stabbed to death in a frenzied attack at one of his constituency surgeries on October 15, 2021.
Ali Harbi Ali is serving the rest of his life in prison for the politically motivated murder.
Although the motive is not yet known, Ann’s killing, in a tragic symmetry, comes almost five years after that of her friend.
She has, since Sir David’s death, written frequently about her friend in her Daily Express column.
In the October 23, 2024 edition Ann wrote about about how she had hated sewing since she was a child but continued to do it, mending things for David’s widow, Julia Amess.
She wrote: “She [Julia] absolutely loves sewing and mending and swears she finds it ‘peaceful’ and ‘relaxing’.
“That is probably as well as David, rather like my great nephew, would not have been able to tell one end of a needle from the other.
“So I hate sewing but the King is right. We should all at least know how to do it, even in this crazy throwaway society.”
As well as bonding over politics Ann and Sir David shared a love of animals and both held strong religious beliefs.