A funeral for former Maidstone MP Ann WIddecombe has taken place at Buckfast Abbey in Devon.
About 100 family, friends and colleagues attended the service on Wednesday 12th August at the Catholic abbey, which she regularly worshipped and called her “safe haven”.
Widdecombe died on 8th July aged 78 and was found with serious head injuries at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor.
Those attending could be seen wearing black as they arrived at the Requiem Mass for the former MP, who later became a Reform UK spokeswoman.
Police officers and sniffer dogs were in the grounds of the abbey ahead of the service, which lasted about 90 minutes.
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.”
A statement from the Abbey Church earlier said 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,” it said.
It added: “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.”
She served as Conservative MP for Maidstone in Kent for 23 years and was appointed to ministerial roles in Sir John Major’s government in the 1990s.
A public memorial for Widdecombe is due to be held later this year.
