Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced an urgent review of protective security for high-profile public figures, expanding police support to politicians and others currently outside its scope, following the murder of Ann Widdecombe. The Guardian reported that Mahmood told the Commons the UK’s protective security system would be re-examined to combat growing risks of terrorism, extremism, state threats, harassment and intimidation.
Widdecombe, a former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokesperson, was found dead on 9 July at her home in Haytor, Devon, having sustained serious injuries. Joshua Kerry, 28, has been charged with her murder.
What the review will cover
The review will be led by Sir Stephen Lovegrove, a former UK national security adviser, who will examine whether current security arrangements ensure adequate protection for those most at risk. That includes royals, government ministers, MPs, locally elected representatives and other prominent individuals in British politics. His review will not include an assessment of individual cases.
Mahmood also announced an immediate expansion of police support to political figures who are not current MPs. Former MPs, peers, party spokespeople, former members of devolved parliaments and party leaders who are not MPs will be offered access to a named police officer and help with wider security measures.
Mahmood’s statement to the Commons
Addressing MPs, Mahmood said that regardless of the outcome of the investigation into an attempted break-in at Nigel Farage’s home, it is ‘clear there is insufficient protection for those who serve’. She framed the review in direct terms: ‘In a more dangerous world, we are faced by threats from without and within that target our democracy and our way of life. In response, we are adapting and strengthening our defences.’
The public figures security review sits alongside a separate, already-running inquiry. Robert Buckland is conducting an independent review into the murder of Sir David Amess MP, which will consider the security of MPs in their constituencies. The Home Office said the Lovegrove review will build on Buckland’s work. In March 2026, the UK Government formally appointed Sir Robert Buckland KC to lead that separate review, according to a UK Government announcement.
Kerry charges and court proceedings
Kerry is also accused of ‘online reconnaissance’ of prominent people and institutions, and of travelling to Farage’s home in south London on 19 April 2025 and attempting to break into it. In October 2026, prosecutors at the Old Bailey alleged, as reported by BBC News, that Kerry ‘had an extreme left wing and/or anti-establishment mindset’ and ‘a particular hostility to Reform’, and that Widdecombe’s murder had a ‘terrorist connection’ as it was ‘politically and ideologically motivated’. These are prosecution allegations; Kerry has not yet entered a plea or stood trial.
In October 2026, ITV News reported that prosecutors told the Old Bailey the killing and the alleged terror plot against Farage were described as ‘inextricably linked’, and that Widdecombe died after being struck over the head with a hammer 21 times in the kitchen of her home. Kerry appeared in court by video link from Belmarsh prison. A trial before a High Court judge is scheduled for 8 June, with a plea and case management hearing set for 29 January, according to ITV News.
The scale of the wider problem was underlined by figures from the Electoral Commission: 55% of all candidates in May’s local elections experienced some form of harassment and intimidation, matching the same proportion recorded at the 2024 general election.
