Ann Widdecombe

Born in Bath, Somerset, Widdecombe is the daughter of Rita Noreen (née Plummer; 1911–2007) and Ministry of Defence civil servant James Murray Widdecombe. Widdecombe's maternal grandfather, James Henry Plummer, was born to a Catholic family of English descent in Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland in 1874.

She attended the Royal Naval School in Singapore,[9] and La Sainte Union Convent School in Bath.[10] She then read Latin at the University of Birmingham and later attended Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).[5] In 1971, she was the secretary of the Oxford Union for one term, and became its treasurer for one term in 1972; she never became president.[11] While studying at Oxford, she lived next door to Mary Archer, Edwina Currie, and Gyles Brandreth's wife Michèle Brown.[12] She worked for Unilever (1973–75) and then as an administrator at the University of London (1975–87) before entering Parliament.[10]

In 1974, Widdecombe was personal assistant to Michael Ancram in the February and October general elections of that year.[11] From 1976 to 1978, Widdecombe was a councillor on Runnymede District Council in Surrey.[13]

She contested the seat of Burnley in Lancashire in the 1979 general election and then, against David Owen, the Plymouth Devonport seat in the 1983 general election.[14][15] In 1983, she (along with Lady Olga Maitland and Virginia Bottomley) was co-founder of Women and Families for Defence, a group founded in opposition to the anti-nuclear Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp.[16]

Widdecombe was first elected to the House of Commons, for the Conservatives, in the 1987 general election as member for the constituency of Maidstone (which became Maidstone and The Weald in 1997).[17]

In 1990, following the assassination of the Conservative politician Ian Gow by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Eastbourne by-election for his seat in the House of Commons was won by the Liberal Democrat David Bellotti. Upon the announcement, Widdecombe told the voters that the IRA would be "toasting their success".[40]

In 1996, Widdecombe, as prisons minister, defended the Government's policy to shackle pregnant prisoners with handcuffs and chains when in hospital receiving prenatal care. Widdecombe told the Commons that the restrictions were needed to prevent prisoners from escaping the hospital. "Some MPs may like to think that a pregnant woman would not or could not escape. Unfortunately this is not true. The fact is that hospitals are not secure places in which to keep prisoners, and since 1990, 20 women have escaped from hospitals". Jack Straw, Labour's Home Affairs spokesman at the time, said it was "degrading and unnecessary" for a woman to be shackled at any stage.[63][64]

In May 1997, in the context of an inquiry into a series of prison escapes, Widdecombe remarked of former Home Secretary Michael Howard, under whom she had served, that there is "something of the night" about him.[65] This much quoted comment is thought to have contributed to failure of Howard's 1997 campaign for the Conservative Party leadership, including by Howard and Widdecombe and led to him being caricatured as a vampire, in part due to his Romanian ancestry.[66][67][68] Howard became the official party leader in 2003, and Widdecombe then stated, "I explained fully what my objections were in 1997 and I do not retract anything I said then. But ... we have to look to the future and not the past."[69]

In 2001, when Michael Portillo was running for leader of the Conservative Party, Widdecombe described him and his allies as "backbiters" due to his alleged destabilising influence under Hague.[24][70] She went on to say that, should he be appointed leader, she would never give him her allegiance.[24] This was amidst a homophobic campaign led by socially conservative critics of Portillo.[70]

In 2009, she partially defended Carol Thatcher's use of the racial slur golliwog on Any Questions?, saying: "There is a generation to whom a golliwog is merely a toy, a generation which was much endeared by its golliwogs which grew up with them on jam jars ... and there is a generation, a new generation for whom that word is deeply offensive and one does have to make I think some allowance for the fact."[71] In December 2019, leaked WhatsApp conversations to the Plymouth Herald between her and Brexit Party activists showed Widdecombe using the term amid rumours BP campaign funding was being diverted away from Plymouth ahead of the general election of that year. Referring to throwing of one's toys out of the pram, Widdecombe said: "Yes, I threw all my toys of the pram. Bears and gollywogs flying everywhere!!".[72][73]

In 2019 Widdecombe defended the comments she made in a 2012 article that supported "gay conversion" therapy.[74] She told Sky News that science may yet "provide an answer" to the question of whether people can "switch sexuality".[75] Following Widdecombe's apparent endorsement of conversion therapy, at least one venue, the Landmark theatre in Ilfracombe, Devon, cancelled a performance of her one-woman show.[76]

Widdecombe and two other Brexit Party figures were criticised for previous appearances on the David Icke-affiliated Richie Allen Show, which has been accused of promoting Holocaust denial and antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family and Zionism. Widdecombe appeared three times between August 2017 and April 2019 and was described as an "old friend of the show" by the host during one appearance.[77][78] Widdecombe told Jewish Chronicle that she agreed to appear to discuss Brexit, and that she "had never heard of the Richie Allen Show until I agreed to go on" and distanced herself from its antisemitic content by, among other things, pointing to her membership of the Conservative Friends of Israel, B'nai B'rith event speeches, and her novel An Act of Treachery, which she said is set during the Holocaust.[79]

Widdecombe was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Brexit Party on 23 May 2019 in the European elections. On 3 July 2019 she used her maiden speech in Strasbourg to compare Brexit to slaves revolting against their owners and to a colonised country rising up against occupying forces, a stance which was criticised by members of both the European Parliament and the British House of Commons.[80][81][82][83]

Widdecombe in an Any Questions? broadcast in 2016 at the Nexus Methodist Church, Bath

In 2002 she took part in the ITV programme Celebrity Fit Club. Also in 2002 she took part in a Louis Theroux television documentary, depicting her life, both in and out of politics.[84] In March 2004 she briefly became The Guardian newspaper's agony aunt, introduced with an Emma Brockes interview.[85] In 2005 BBC Two showed six episodes of The Widdecombe Project, an agony aunt television programme.[86] In 2005, she appeared in a new series of Celebrity Fit Club, but this time as a panel member dispensing wisdom and advice to the celebrities taking part.[86][87] Also in 2005, she presented the show Ann Widdecombe to the Rescue in which she acted as an agony aunt, dispensing advice to disputing families, couples, and others across the UK.[86] In 2005, she also appeared in a discussion programme on Five to discuss who had been England's greatest monarch since the Norman Conquest; her choice of monarch was Charles II.[88]

She was the guest host of news quiz Have I Got News for You twice, in 2006 and 2007. Her first appearance as guest host, in 2006, was widely regarded as a success.[89][90] Following her second appearance, Widdecombe vowed she would never appear on the show again because of comments made by panellist Jimmy Carr. She wrote, "His idea of wit is a barrage of filth and the sort of humour most men grow out of in their teens.... [T]here's no amount of money for which I would go through those two recording hours again. At one stage I nearly walked out."[91] She did, however, stand by her appraisal of regular panellists Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, whom she has called "the fastest wits in showbusiness".[91] Merton later revealed that he thought Widdecombe had been "the worst ever presenter" of the show, particularly on her second appearance where Merton claimed she "thought she was Victoria Wood".[92]

In 2007 she awarded the University Challenge trophy to the winners.[93] In the same year, she appeared in "The Sound of Drums", the 12th episode of the third series of the science-fiction drama Doctor Who, endorsing the Master's Prime Minister campaign.[94] Since 2007 Widdecombe has fronted a television series called Ann Widdecombe Versus, on ITV1, in which she speaks to various people about things related to her as an MP, with an emphasis on confronting those responsible for problems she wished to tackle. On 15 August 2007 she talked about prostitution, the next week about benefits and the week after that about truancy. A fourth episode was screened on 18 September 2008 in which she travelled around London and Birmingham talking to girl gangs.[95]

In 2009, Widdecombe appeared with Archbishop John Onaiyekan in an "Intelligence Squared" debate in which they defended the motion that the Catholic Church was a force for good. Arguing against the motion were Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens, who won the debate overall.[96]

In October 2010, she appeared on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered by Anton du Beke, winning the support of some viewers despite low marks from the judges.[97][98] After nine weeks of routines strongly flavoured by comedy the couple had received enough support in the public vote to stay in the contest. Widdecombe was eliminated from the competition on Sunday 5 December after the public vote had been combined with the judges' score; she was with Scott Maslen of EastEnders in the bottom two. In 2011 Widdecombe played the Lord Mayoress in an episode of Sooty.[99]

In 2012, Widdecombe hosted a new quiz show for the Sky Atlantic channel, called Cleverdicks. The show ran for one series with 30 one-hour episodes. It featured four contestants, usually high quality members of the UK national quiz circuit and ended with a money round for the winner of each show.[100] In April 2012 Widdecombe presented an hour-long documentary for BBC Radio 5 Live, Drunk Again: Ann Widdecombe Investigates, looking at how the British attitude to alcohol consumption has changed over the last few years.[101][102] It was revealed in October 2012, that the year's Children in Need's appeal night would feature a Strictly Come Dancing special with former show favourites Russell Grant and Widdecombe.[103] On 4 November 2012, Widdecombe guest-hosted one episode of BBC's Songs of Praise programme about singleness.[104]

In October 2014, she appeared in the BBC series Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, partnered with expert Mark Stacey – beating Craig Revel Horwood and Catherine Southon.[105]

Widdecombe took part in a television series 24 Hours in the Past, along with Colin Jackson, Alistair McGowan, Miquita Oliver, Tyger Drew-Honey and Zoe Lucker. The four-part series was aired from 28 April–19 May 2015 on BBC One and involved the celebrities experiencing life as workers in a dustyard, coachhouse, pottery and finally as workhouse inmates in 1840s Britain. She took part in an episode of Tipping Point: Lucky Stars in 2016. In 2017, Widdecombe took part in ITV's Sugar Free Farm.

In January 2018, Widdecombe was the first to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house to participate as a housemate in its twenty-first series.[106] A controversial figure in the house, she was criticised over her comments regarding the Harvey Weinstein controversy[107] as well as comments perceived to be anti-LGBT to her fellow housemates, most notably to drag queen Courtney Act (Shane Jenek).[108][109][110] She finished the competition in second place as runner-up to Jenek, who became popular with viewers for challenging Widdecombe's comments.[111]

In 2019 Widdecombe appeared on the new celebrity version of The Crystal Maze, where alongside Sunetra Sarker, Wes Nelson, Matthew Wright and Nikki Sanderson, she won money for the charity Stand Up to Cancer initiative.[112]

Following her retirement, Widdecombe made her stage debut, on 9 December 2011, at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford in the Christmas pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, alongside Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.[113] In April 2012, she had a ten-minute non-singing cameo part in Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera La Fille du Regiment, playing the Duchesse de Crackentorp.[114] Widdecombe reprised her pantomime performance, again with Revel Horwood, at the Swan Theatre, High Wycombe in December 2012.[115]

Widdecombe stepped in at short notice to play the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, at Bridlington Spa in December 2016. She replaced Lorraine Chase, who had been injured in an accident two weeks before rehearsals were due to commence. This was Widdecombe's first appearance as a pantomime 'baddie'; a role she told the press she had always hoped for.[116]

In December 2017 Widdecombe played the Empress of China in the pantomime Aladdin at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft.[117] The production was the theatre's most successful pantomime to date.[118]

Until her retirement following the 2010 general election, Widdecombe divided her time between her two homes – one in London and one in the countryside village of Sutton Valence, Kent, in her constituency.[119] She sold both of these properties, however, upon deciding to retire at the next general election.[120][121] She shared her home in London with her widowed mother, Rita Widdecombe, until Rita's death, on 25 April 2007, aged 95.[122] In March 2008, she purchased a house in Haytor Vale, on Dartmoor in Devon, where she retired.[123] Her brother, Malcolm (1937–2010), who was an Anglican Canon in Bristol, retired in May 2009 and died in October 2010.[124] Her nephew, Roger Widdecombe, is an Anglican priest.[125]

Widdecombe in 2006

She has never married nor had any children. In November 2007 on BBC Radio 4 she described how a journalist once produced a profile on her with the assumption that she had had at least "one sexual relationship", to which Widdecombe replied: "Be careful, that's the way you get sued". When interviewer Jenni Murray asked if she had ever had a sexual relationship, Widdecombe laughed "it's nobody else's business".[126]

In a 2001 report in The Guardian it was claimed that she had a three-year romance while studying at the University of Oxford.[127] Widdecombe herself confirmed the liaison when she appeared, in January 2018, on the UK reality show Big Brother, explaining that she had ended the romance in order to prioritise her career.[128][85]

Widdecombe has a fondness for cats and many other animals such as foxes, and has a section of her website devoted to all the pet cats with which she has shared her life.[129] Widdecombe also adopted two goats at the Buttercups Goat Sanctuary in Boughton Monchelsea near Maidstone, although one later died.[130] In an interview, Widdecombe talked about her appreciation of music despite describing herself as "pretty well tone-deaf".[131][132]

Her non-political accomplishments include being a popular novelist. Widdecombe also currently writes a weekly column for the Daily Express.[133]

In January 2011 Widdecombe was President of the North of England Education Conference in Blackpool, and gave a speech there supporting selective education and opposing the ban on new grammar schools being built.[134][135][136] She has also become a patron of The Grace Charity for M.E.[137]

Widdecombe revealed, in an April 2012 interview with Matt Chorley of The Independent, that she was writing her own autobiography, which she described as "rude about all and sundry, but an amount of truth is always necessary".[31]

Widdecombe is a Patron of the charity Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land (SHADH) and in 2014 visited the SHADH Donkey Sanctuary in the West Bank.[138]

• Widdecombe was appointed an Honorary Fellow of Canterbury Christ Church University at a ceremony held at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 January 2009.[144]
• She was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of the University (D.Univ) by the University of Birmingham on 5 July 2012.[145]
•   Holy See: Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great (DSG) (2013)[146]

• 2000: Kochan, Nicholas Ann Widdecombe: right from the beginning. London: Politico's Publishing ISBN 1-902301-55-2

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ann Widdecombe.

• Official Website
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Ann Widdecombe MP
• The Public Whip – Ann Widdecombe MP voting record
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ann Widdecombe