On same-sex marriage, abortion and climate change Ann Widdecombe never faltered in speaking her mind.

But when it came to discussing more personal affairs such as nudity and sex the former Conservative MP – whose death aged 78 was announced on Friday – remained famously tight-lipped.

Openly celibate and against sex before marriage, Ms Widdecombe was frequently asked questions around her virginity, with the topic creating a mystique that constantly lingered around the career politician.

She professed to having only ever had one serious relationship during her lifetime while at Oxford University – and never met ‘Mr Right’ thereafter. 

The politician also once threatened to sue a journalist who expressed doubts over whether she really was a virgin – while broadcaster Louis Theroux was scolded for his ‘impertinence’ in asking such questions.

But for all of the curiosity that came her way over why she never married, the answer for Ms Widdecombe was straightforward – she was perfectly happy with her life, her career and being an independent woman living on her own. 

She once brashly declared to The Independent that she can ‘do very nicely without [sex or television]’ while in another interview she confessed to ‘loving my own company.’

Known for her redoubtable, no-nonsense nature, Ms Widdecombe spent more than two decades as a Tory MP before becoming a Brexit Party MEP and joining Reform UK in 2023.

On same-sex marriage, abortion and climate change Ann Widdecombe never faltered in speaking her mind – but she was rather more tight lipped around her personal life

Broadcaster Louis Theroux was scolded for his ‘impertinence’ after asking Ann Widdecombe whether she was still a virgin during his 2002 programme with her

For all of the curiosity over why she never married, the answer for Ms Widdecombe was straight forward – she was perfectly happy with her life, her career and being an independent woman living on her own. Pictured: Ms Widdecombe in 2024

She also found fame outside politics after starring in Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Big Brother. 

Tributes flooded in on Friday for Ms Widdecombe, whose death at her home in Haytor, Dartmoor has prompted a murder investigation. 

A 26-year-old white British man has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, as forensic officers continue to investigate the circumstances.

Sir Keir Starmer led tributes to the ‘distinguished politician’ while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called her a ‘true servant of her constituents.’

Meanwhile Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Widdecombe as ‘a remarkable, principled woman’ and said ‘our nation is a much, much poorer place without her.’

For all her achievements in politics, Ms Widdecombe was equally known for her eccentricities, vivacious personality and steadfast conservative views.

Faith was also important to her and she famously left the Church of England in 1993 and converted to Roman Catholicism following the CofE’s decision to ordain women as priests.

Ms Widdecombe opened up about her life away from politics to Louis Theroux for his When Louis Met…series on BBC One in 2002.

The pair got off to a prickly start when he stated that she was ‘unusual in many respects’.

He said: ‘You’re an outspoken, prominent politician, but you’re also a single woman of a certain age who’s expressed that you don’t think you’ll ever get married [and] you’ve said you’re a virgin.’

Unfazed by his line of questioning, Ms Widdecombe said: ‘People ask impertinent questions and they make their own deductions, but I always tell people to mind their own business.’

She added, ‘I don’t regard it as anybody else’s business’ before telling a shocked Louis: ‘Bluntly, I regard it as an impertinence.’

On why she had never married, Ms Widdecombe told him it had not been a conscious decision, but rather one of circumstance. 

‘I’ve always said Mr Right didn’t come along and it was never a priority to go out looking for him, so it just didn’t happen.’

Ms Widdecombe pictured in the garden of her house on Dartmoor on May 24, 2013 

The politician ahead of an appearance on Good Morning Britain in 2019 

For all her achievements in politics, Ms Widdecombe was equally known for her eccentricities, vivacious personality and steadfast conservative views 

In one of the last pictures taken of Ms Widdecombe, the politician campaigns outside Reform’s Wigan headquarters for the Makerfield by-election

In more recent years, the political personality told The Times that she did not mind being on her own.

‘I think that the brute truth is that I’ve enjoyed being alone,’ she said. ‘I love my own company. I’m the best company I know – I mean, I can make myself laugh uproariously.’

As for finding love, she revealed that her only serious relationship had been with fellow Oxford University student Colin Maltby, who went on to ‘happily’ marry and forge a career as a banker. 

Ms Widdecombe, who lived with her widowed mother Rita until her death in 2007 at the age of 95, also never had any children.

She was however a beloved ‘honorary aunt’ for the children of a close friend.  

‘I’m a great aunt to five kids who come to me in the summer and at half terms – I may have been a good granny but I’m not much into babysitting,’ she told the Belfast Telegraph in 2014.

‘I have spent most of my life on my own, apart from when I lived with my mother. I’ve given up trying to explain to people that I do not get lonely.’

Ms Widdecombe remained true to her conservative values throughout her life, seldom opening up about sex or any love interest.

She also famously had a clause placed into her contract for her 2010 appearance on Strictly Come Dancing that meant she would not perform any overtly sexual moves with dance partner Anton Du Beke, as well as insisting she only wore outfits that covered her up.

The politician told The Mirror: ‘I said right at the start, I am not doing anything I consider immodest. I was worried about the suggestive nature of some of the dances but I made it very clear to the BBC that I would not be doing that.’ 

She added: ‘I had it written into the contract before I signed it. There was a group dance we learned which had a move in it that I refused to do. I didn’t make a scene about it. I just did it my way.

‘My view is, “What I wouldn’t show the Pope, I won’t show the audience.” 

‘I’ve made sure my dresses are pretty much down to the ankles and covered right up to the top.’

Ms Widdecombe survived until the tenth week of the competition and finished in sixth place.

Her iconic journey saw her handed consistently very low scores by judges – once receiving a record-low 12 for her Salsa and being described as like ‘a Dalek in drag’.

She returned to the ballroom in December 2018 for the show’s festive special, performing an American Smooth to ‘Sisters’ from White Christmas.

So successful was Ms Widdecombe’s Strictly venture that in December 2010, seven MPs supported a parliamentary motion ‘saluting’ her and Anton Du Beke for ‘their achievement in putting a smile on the nation’s faces’.

In 2010 she became an unlikely star of the hit BBC dancing show as she was paired with the  professional Anton Du Beke

Mr Du Beke was among the scores of tributes paid to Ms Widdecombe today, saying he was ‘devastated’ by the news of her death.

‘I had the most brilliant time with Ann on Strictly Come Dancing,’ he said. ‘She became a real friend. She was fun. She was upbeat. She was positive. She was supportive.

‘We had an incredible time together and we stayed firm friends.

‘My thoughts go out to all of her nearest and dearest and all her family. This is a sad day and I’m devastated by the news of Ann’s passing but I shall remember her fondly, and miss her.’

Devon and Cornwall Police said there was ‘no information’ at this time to suggest Ms Widdecombe’s murder was a ‘politically motivated crime’ and it is not being treated as terror-related.