Police officers have carried out security patrols outside the church where former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe’s funeral is set to take place.
Family, friends and peers have gathered to pay their respects at the Catholic abbey in Buckfastleigh, Devon where the former MP regularly attended Mass on Wednesday.
Mourners could be seen wearing black as they arrived at the requiem mass – a Catholic service where prayers are offered for the soul of the dead – for the former MP, who later became a spokeswoman for Reform UK.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, police officers were seen patrolling the grounds of Buckfast Abbey and carrying out security checks. A police detection dog was spotted inspecting a bin and seating area during a security search in the area.
Miss Widdecombe, 78, was a regular worshipper in the Abbey Church. She died on 8 July after she was hit over the head with a hammer 21 times at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon.
Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was charged with her murder on 20 July.
The private requiem mass will include a homily from the Rt Rev David Charlesworth, Abbot of Buckfast.
A statement from the abbey said Miss Widdecombe would be “missed and fondly remembered” and “many in our worshipping community knew her as a kind and warm character”.
“Ann was a woman of profound faith, a faith which found expression in the public forum of politics,” the statement said.
“Ann was unafraid to express her unwavering convictions, formed through her Roman Catholic faith. She had a sharp intellect and was a dedicated public servant.”
A public memorial for Miss Widdecombe will be held later this year.
“Ann was a woman of profound faith, a faith which found expression in the public forum of politics,” the statement said.
“Ann was unafraid to express her unwavering convictions, formed through her Roman Catholic faith. She had a sharp intellect and was a dedicated public servant.”
The order of service for the requiem mass shows tributes will be paid by the Rev Roger Widdecombe, Miss Widdecombe’s nephew, and Sir Christian Sweeting, a close friend.
It states that donations made in memory of Miss Widdecombe will be divided between the Leprosy Mission and Abound, supporting the projects of the Christian Endeavour Hostel (CEH) in India.
Miss Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, was a prisons minister in the 1990s and later became an MEP for the Brexit Party.
At the time of her death, she was a spokeswoman on immigration and justice for Reform UK.
She also found fame outside politics on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother.
