Counter terror police probe 'link' between Ann Widdecombe murder suspect and Nigel Farage 'arson attack'
Detectives reopen inquiry into an incendiary device put through the Reform UK leader’s letterbox
Counter terror police investigating the death of former MP Ann Widdecombe have reopened a year-old probe into an alleged firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s home in south London.
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Officers said the incident, which reports have called a “lit incendiary device” being posted through the Reform UK leader’s letterbox, happened at an address in Greater London and was reported in April 2025.
The Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London said they investigated an “attempted burglary”, but no arrests were made and the case was closed pending any new lines of inquiry.
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Since it was reopened, CTP London has identified a line of inquiry “which may have been relevant” but was “not identified and pursued by them at the time”.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), is now investigating the “conduct” of a CTP London staff member, following an allegation that the employee “failed to identify and pursue a line of inquiry” related to the attempted burglary.
Mr Farage told the Telegraph in April that a lit incendiary device was shoved through his letterbox in early 2025 in an “outright arson attempt” when he was not in.
He found the damage when he returned home, and “luckily it had burned itself out in the porch”.
Police investigated but had not identified any suspects, Mr Farage told the newspaper.
Today at a press conference, Mr Farage revealed that a previous fire-bombing attack on his house had been drawn into the investigation into Ms Widdecombe’s murder, after he met with anti-terror police.
He said: “Yes, this is directly linked to the murder of Ann Widdecombe, and I’m afraid I just can’t tell you any more than that at this stage.”
He described the decision to re-open the case into the attack as “completely unprecedented”.
Farage said that he believed that counterterrorism officers had “made some mistakes” in the case but insisted he still has confidence in them.
The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), is now investigating the “conduct” of a Counterterrorism Policing London staff member.
Reform UK spokeswoman and former Tory minister Ms Widdecombe, 78, died on July 8 after she was hit over the head with a hammer 21 times at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, a court heard.
Joshua Kerry, 28, was charged with her murder on July 20.