Burnham faces demand to apologise over remarks on Ann Widdecombe murder case

Burnham's remarks at PMQs

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday 14 October, Andy Burnham described an individual as responsible for the murder of Ann Widdecombe, even though the legal process is still at an early stage. Shadow Commons leader Jesse Norman raised a point of order, arguing that the remark breached the presumption of innocence and was misleading to the House.

A man is innocent until proven guilty. The presumption of innocence goes back to Magna Carta.

Norman asked the Prime Minister to apologise and withdraw the statement. Deputy Speaker Nusrat Ghani replied that the content of ministers' answers is not a matter for the chair, but that the Treasury frontbench would have heard the point. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had granted a 'limited waiver' on Monday 12 October, allowing MPs to discuss the case despite the sub judice rule, which bars MPs from referring to matters awaiting adjudication in court. Words spoken in the Commons are protected by parliamentary privilege, and No 10 declined to comment on the evening of 14 October.

The criminal case

Ann Widdecombe, 78, a former Conservative minister and Reform UK's justice spokeswoman, was found dead at her property in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon. A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on 11 July, two days after Widdecombe was found dead. Hoyle noted that the man has been charged with a number of offences, and he has also been charged with a terror plot against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. A plea and case management hearing is set for 29 January 2027, and a trial before a High Court judge for 8 June 2027.

Badenoch and the Manchester City question

Conservative MP Jeremy Mayhew asked about a deleted register of interests that showed Burnham had two hospitality dinners with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. Burnham had previously said he had only one 'significant' meeting with the chairman. In reply, Burnham said that nobody from Manchester City had raised the charges with him and that the hospitality meetings were included in his statement on Monday 12 October. Kemi Badenoch then said:

I don't think his carefully worded answer will suffice

She did not return to the point. Her questions instead covered Burnham's Russia and Brexit claims, whether he would approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields, whether he would cut benefits to boost defence spending, and whether he would help business owners with tax.

Brexit claims and Reform jibes

Burnham doubled down on his claim that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and Badenoch accused him of 'putting his foot in his mouth' over it. Burnham also praised her for answering crude and offensive jibes from elements of Nigel Farage's Reform Party, which suggested that mixed-race children, including Badenoch's own three children, were not entitled to call themselves English. He told the Commons:

I commend her for drawing a line with the party over there for suggesting that her children were not British.

Polling after the conference

Two post-conference polls have put the Conservatives in second place. A YouGov poll for The Times and Sky News had the party on 23 per cent, up three points and at its highest on YouGov's tracker since January 2025, with Labour on 24 per cent and Reform UK on 21 per cent. A More in Common poll had the Conservatives on 24 per cent, Reform on 21 per cent and Labour on 28 per cent, placing the Tories second after more than 18 months in third. Sir John Curtice had earlier told a Conservative Party Conference fringe event that the party had made little progress and remained broadly where it was after the election.