LONDON: British police said they had launched a murder investigation into the death of Ann Widdecombe, a 78-year-old former government minister whose death was announced earlier on Friday. Widdecombe was a Conservative member of parliament between 1987 and 2010, and held several junior ministerial positions in former prime minister John Major's government. "Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace," Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement.

British police have arrested a suspect in the killing of Ann Widdecombe, a former British member of Parliament and reality TV contestant.

Police are today understood to be investigating the circumstances surrounding Ann Widdecombe's death.