Ann Widdecombe backed Nigel Farage’s decision to call a by-election in Clacton in her final interview, which was recorded just minutes before she is believed to have been killed.
The Reform UK spokeswoman joined a Christian radio station TWR UK between 11.55am and 12.10pm on Wednesday July 8.
Police believe that she was then murdered in her Dartmoor home at around 12.30pm, just 20 minutes after the interview ended,
In the interview, Miss Widdecombe defended Reform UK leader Nigel Farage over a £5million gift he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, and branded politics a “game of personal destruction”.
The interview was not broadcast live, and was meant to be aired late last week, but has now been published with the permission of Miss Widdecombe’s family.
In the released footage, she said: “Let’s bring an end to it, let’s bring this to a head, let’s put it to the people to see what they think of all of this.
“There has been a game now for a very long time, a game of personal destruction, not just for Nigel, for lots and lots of politicians that face this.”
She also said that the parliamentary register of interests had “departed from its original purpose”.
She added: “It’s become a game so that people try to see, you know, what you might not have declared, you might have decided you didn’t have to declare.
“Other people, like I did, will declare every last darn thing, even though it’s complete nonsense.”
The interview appears to have been recorded in the library of her bungalow in Haytor, Devon, with Miss Widdecombe wearing the same outfit she wore on TalkTV at 8am that morning.
James Maidment-Fullard, who was interviewing Miss Widdecombe for TWR, told Times Radio: “I was looking at my phone when the alert came in on Friday at 6.30 in the morning, and I just remember staring at the alert thinking that there’d been some kind of mistake.
“As the story developed and the timeline became clearer, I was just deeply saddened by it. To be honest, I’m just still trying to come to terms with it all.”
A 28-year-old man from Rotherham has been arrested on suspicion of Miss Widdecombe’s murder and preparing or instigating a terrorist act.
Counter Terrorism police now believe that the killing could have been a politically motivated attack, and the suspect was re-arrested on Monday on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
The Head of National Counter Terrorism Police, Laurence Taylor, said: “Building on the progress made by our colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police, we now have new information and evidence that means Counter Terrorism Policing is now leading the investigation.
“We are pursuing multiple lines of enquiry to establish the motivation for this attack. Our priority is progressing this investigation quickly, with all the capabilities we have available to us. If anyone has any information, please share it with the police.
“We would like to thank local communities, the wider public and the media for their ongoing support and patience, and would ask them to continue to support us in the next stage of the investigation.”
