Detectives are continuing to investigate any possible political or terrorist motivation for the murder of Ms Widdecombe after a 28-year-old man was charged with the killing.

Joshua Kerry, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with murder, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

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He was first arrested on July 11, two days after the 78-year-old Reform UK spokeswoman was found dead at her home in Devon.

Speaking outside New Scotland Yard on Monday, head of UK Counter-Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said: “I want to make it very clear that our investigation into this individual, determining his motivations and any wider activity he may have been involved in is continuing.

Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage with former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

“Given Ann Widdecombe’s profile and the targeted nature of the attack, determining the motivation, including any possible political motivation, remains an active avenue of investigation for our detectives.”

He said that detectives are working through more than 800 lines of inquiry, and asked for time for investigators to carry out the work.

Two days after he was arrested for murder, Kerry was additionally arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, but has not been charged with this offence.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor (Image: Erik Olsson/PA Wire)

Frank Ferguson, chief crown prosecutor of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: “We have decided to prosecute Joshua Kerry for murder following a police investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe in Haytor, Dartmoor.

“Police inquiries into the defendant’s motives are ongoing, including a potential political or terrorist connection.”

Miss Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, and went on to become an MEP for the Brexit Party and then a spokeswoman for Reform UK.

Strictly Come Dancing partners Ann Widdecombe and Anton du Beke on the show (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.

Ms Widdecombe read Latin at Birmingham University before studying philosophy, politics and economics at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, where she was involved in the Oxford Union.

While there she had embarked on a three-year romance, ending it in order to focus on her career.

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Otherwise she claimed to have no interest in sex, and never married.

Tributes were paid to her by figures across the political spectrum after her death, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling her “one of those rare politicians who was bigger than politics”.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for a serious review of MPs’ safety after she died, and Mr Taylor said officers are working with parliamentary officials to make politicians aware of protection measures that are in place.

Window on Wallingford has been ‘at the heart’ of the South Oxfordshire town since 1962, sharing news and information on what’s going with locals for free.

Run solely by volunteers, support dwindled in recent years, and by February the production of the monthly magazine had fallen on the shoulders of a single person.

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The lack of a magazine for the past six months led a group of volunteers to organise themselves into a new committee, promising to relaunch the valued resource beginning with a fundraising campaign to get it off the ground.

A group of volunteers are fundraising to relaunch Window on Wallingford (Image: Dean Valler)

One of the volunteers, internal communications manager Dean Valler, 48, said the group plans to bring a ‘vibrant new look and feel’ to the newsletter.

H said: ‘We are not short on inspiration living in a town with so much going on and so many aspects of life to highlight and are all energised by the prospect of once again seeing Window on Wallingford hot off the press and informing everyone.

“Plus, we have our mascot, Wowly, for people to keep an eye out for.

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“First, though, we are looking for people’s support to get behind this.

“We are a small group of enthusiastic volunteers, happy to work for free, and would appreciate anything anyone can give to cover the costs of producing our first issue and making our ambition a reality, for the benefit of everyone in Wallingford.”

They’re hoping to raise £1,500 to get it back up and running, and are being supported by Wallingford for All CIC.

On July 16, Will Boucher-Giles stepped down from the authority, leaving the Lib Dem administration without a majority on the council weeks after it had regained control.

The former representative for Chesterton and Launton has left his role “due to a family move to Switzerland”, a Lib Dem spokesperson has confirmed.

The party will continue to run the county council in a minority as they did after councillors Ben Higgins and Nick Cotter left the party in quick succession – this could mean it will have to seek support from other parties to pass its policies.

Mr Higgins has since re-joined the Lib Dems, restoring its majority for just under a month until Mr Boucher-Giles’ departure.

Councillor Ben Higgins (centre) back on the Lib Dem bench (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

Lib Dem council leader Tim Bearder had said Mr Higgins’ return was “providing stability so that we can get on with the job” of running the county.

On the latest departure, Conservative county leader and West Oxfordshire councillor Liam Walker said: “Oxfordshire deserves better than the chaos we’ve seen over recent months.

“Most importantly, the residents of the Chesterton and Launton division deserve strong, consistent representation.

“Instead, they’ve been taken for granted by the Liberal Democrats.”

A by-election is set to take place, and a party spokesperson said the Oxfordshire Lib Dems hope to take back their majority at the county council with “an opportunity to campaign on their record, which includes delivering safer roads in local villages and record investment in county council services”.