A congregation of around 100 family members, friends and colleagues, including former Tory ministers and broadcasters, has attended the funeral service for former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe.
Figures from politics and broadcasting gathered at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, a Catholic abbey where she worshipped regularly and described as her "safe haven".
Mourners wearing black arrived for a requiem mass – a Catholic service in which prayers are offered for the soul of the dead – honouring the former MP, who went on to become a Reform UK spokeswoman.
Prior to the service, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, police officers using sniffer dogs searched the grounds.
Miss Widdecombe, 78, 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.
It is understood that Reform’s leader Nigel Farage did not attend the event.
Mr Farage was campaigning in Clacton on Wednesday and did not wish to draw attention at Miss Widdecombe’s funeral, which the family asked to be kept private.
However, he is expected to attend a public memorial for Miss Widdecombe, which will be held later this year.
In a post on X, Mr Farage described her as an “extraordinary woman who left a serious mark on British politics”.
“She will be sorely missed,” he said.
High-profile figures who attended include the shadow chancellor Mel Stride, Conservative former justice minister Crispin Blunt and broadcaster Iain Dale.
In a post on LBC’s website on Wednesday, Mr Dale paid tribute to his friend and said he hopes to meet her in heaven one day.
The private requiem mass included a homily from the Rt Rev David Charlesworth, Abbot of Buckfast.
He said: “In the midst of the shock, clamour and sometimes unwarranted comment surrounding her death, our response is to pray for the repose of her soul, to give thanks for her fortitude, and offer Holy Mass in this Abbey Church which Ann called her safe haven.
“Here we pray that she has finally been enfolded in the arms of the Risen Lord, where true love and peace reign, and where she will hear the Lord’s words, ‘well done, my good and faithful servant’.”
An earlier 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”.
It added: “Ann was a woman of profound faith, a faith which found expression in the public forum of politics.
“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 were 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 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.
