A neighbour of Ann Widdecombe has claimed a man wearing hiking gear appeared in the middle of the night before her body was discovered. The former Conservative prisons minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.

Detectives initially believed the former politician, who switched to Reform UK from the Tories, died from a fall. Devon and Cornwall Police later announced it had opened a murder investigation. A 26-year-old white British man has now been arrested on suspicion of murder.

A local, reported as living immediately next door to Miss Widdecombe, said they saw a van arriving in the early hours of the morning on the day she died.

He told The Sun the man was white, British and dressed in hiking clothes.

Peter Cornthwaite, 66, from nearby Smokey Cross, told the same publication: "I’m quite shocked by this. It’s terrible.

"We never saw security and she didn’t have a secure garden, no gate or anything."

Devon and Cornwall Police Asst Ch Cons Matt Longman said the 26-year-old suspect was arrested at an address in Newton Abbot on Friday.

He said the case was not being treated as terrorism and there was no information at this time to suggest it was a politically-motivated crime.

Mr Longman said: “This is an extremely tragic incident. Our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Miss Widdecombe in this very difficult time.”

Police are remaining “open-minded” about the motive for the attack and it was too early to comment on whether the suspect was known to Miss Widdecombe.

In a statement on social media, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the former MP and MEP’s death, and subsequent police murder investigation, was a “terrible reflection on modern Britain”.

He said: “We don’t know what political motives there are, whether they exist at all. Was it a burglary gone wrong? We just don’t know. And I’m not going to speculate at this stage. I’m pleased the police are doing their job."

Mr Farage said Britain and Reform UK are much poorer without her. He added: "I was expecting to see her in Clacton over the course of the next few days. Sadly, that is not going to happen."

Reform UK's leader, who resigned as the MP for Clacton-on-Sea to trigger a by-election amid a parliamentary standards investigation, concluded his statement: "Rest in peace, Ann.

"A remarkable, principled woman, and a truly dreadful way to die, and a terrible reflection on modern Britain. And I do fear that for anybody in public life, or especially the political space, things have become even more dangerous today."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urged people to come together across political divides following the murder.

Sir Keir said he had spoken to his likely successor Andy Burnham, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Mr Farage to “urge everybody to come together at a moment like this”.

He said: "Ann was a distinguished politician over many, many years with many achievements, and it’s a huge, huge loss."

Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch said: "It was a nasty, horrific attack and my heart is breaking for her family."