A prominent British politician who was also a Catholic convert has died, aged 78.

Ann Widdecombe was a well-known political figure in the UK, spending 23 years as a Member of Parliament for Maidstone in Kent for the Conservatives, from 1987 to 2010.

There are some reports that she died on Wednesday, as the result of a fall, but this hasn’t been confirmed yet.

“It is with great sadness that today we announce the death of the Rt. Hon. Ann Widdecombe, DSG. We send our deepest condolences to Ann’s family and friends. We ask that the family’s wish not to be contacted at this sad time is respected,” said her agents, Cloud 9 Management.

After leaving parliament, she appeared on TV shows Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 and Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.

A staunch supporter of the UK’s exit from the European Union, she later caused a stir by leaving the Conservatives and joining the then-Brexit Party as a Member of European Parliament (MEP), which later became Reform UK, the right-wing populist party of which Nigel Farage is the leader.

She later became Reform UK’s spokesperson for immigration and justice.

Following the news of her death, Farage played tribute to Widdecombe. 

“When Ann Widdecombe decided to stand for The Brexit Party in the snap 2019 European Elections, it was a big moment and huge boost. The voters loved her. She played a decisive role in getting Brexit over the line and will be missed by us all,” he said.

In 1990, after John Major became Prime Minister, she became a junior minister in the Social Security Department. In 1995 she was made prisons minister at the Home Office under Michael Howard, home secretary at the time.

After the Conservatives’ defeat in 1997, she was also shadow health minister and later shadow home secretary.

Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, said that Widdecombe was a “formidable politician who was never afraid to speak her mind and fought hard for what she believed.”

Widdecombe’s Catholic beliefs

She was received into the Catholic Church in 1993, following the Anglican Church’s decision to ordain women. Her brother, Canon Malcolm Widdecombe (1937-2010), remained a lifelong Anglican and was the vicar of St. Philip and St. Jacob in Bristol.

Widdecombe was an outspoken advocate for Church teaching and was publicly pro-life. Speaking to EWTN’s Colm Flynn last September, she explained what it was that drew her to the Church.

“The great thing about Catholicism is it doesn’t compromise – something is either true or it’s false. It’s right or it’s wrong. It’s a sin or it’s not. There’s none of this endless fudging that you get with the Anglican Church,” she said.

“If you believe something, say it. I mean, what is the point of believing it if you won’t say it,” she added, in explanation for her forthrightness. 

She said that she frequently encountered surprise amongst her colleagues at her voting record, which was informed by her Catholic beliefs. “I believe in things that are unfashionable so on the whole they just thought I was a bit odd,” she said.

Chris Whitehouse, a Trustee of Right to Life UK, a pro-life charity, also paid tribute to Widdecombe. 

“For 40 years, Ann was to me a personal and family friend, a political mentor and a remarkable heroine of the pro-life cause. To have known her was a pleasure and a privilege, if sometimes a challenge,” he said.

Widdecombe was born into an evangelical family but was educated at the Catholic La Sainte Union Convent School in Bath. She later said “I know the Evangelical position is there is a given moment of conversion, but I think Christianity can be something that develops…it’s far more subtle.”

Speaking Friday, health secretary James Murray said of Widdecombe “I can’t say I always agreed with her views, but she was such a part of our politics.” 

“[E]veryone can recognise the contribution that she made to politics,” the Labour minister added to Times Radio. 

Widdecombe also published several popular novels and was a columnist for the Daily Express. She was born in 1947 in Bath and never married. She did two undergraduate degrees, one at the University of Birmingham and the other at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.