Security arrangements for high-profile public figures to be reviewed urgently, Shabana Mahmood says

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The Home Secretary announced on Monday an urgent review of security arrangements for high-profile public figures in the wake of the killing of ex-minister Ann Widdecombe.

Shabana Mahmood said the review would examine the current security provided to high-profile individuals, including royals, as well as ministers, lawmakers and other prominent politicians.

Police support will also be extended to party leaders who are not MPs, alongside peers, former MPs, ex-members of devolved parliaments and political spokespeople.

“Those who enter public life do so to serve. Robust debate and criticism are part of the job. Threats, abuse and violence are not,” Ms Mahmood said.

“An attack on any individual in public life is an attack on every one of us, and it is an attack on democracy itself.”

She added: “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.”

Former national security adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove is to lead the newly announced review, examining current security delivery and evaluating whether resources are deployed effectively.

The project will build upon findings from Sir Robert Buckland, who is undertaking a separate review following the murder of Sir David Amess, the Commons heard.

The announcement follows the killing in July of Ms Widdecombe, a junior Conservative minister in the mid-1990s and more recently a spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

Joshua Kerry had been charged with the murder of Ms Widdecombe when he was subsequently accused of a terrorism offence targeting Mr Farage and other unnamed public figures.

Prosecutors allege Kerry attempted to gain entry to Mr Farage’s house in April 2025, with police watchdog the IOPC investigating the police’s response.

Over a period of nearly two years before her killing, it is alleged he carried out research on prominent people and institutions and tried to gain entry to the home of Mr Farage.

Others named on a list uncovered during the investigation are said to include Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, and Reform MPs Richard Tice, Lee Anderson and Robert Jenrick.

Ms Mahmood told the Commons that, regardless of the outcome of the investigation into an attempted break-in at Mr Farage’s home, it is “clear there is insufficient protection for those who serve”.

“I can therefore announce today that I will expand, with immediate effect, police support to political figures who are not currently members of Parliament,” she said.

“This will include former members of Parliament, peers, and party spokespeople, giving them access to a named police officer, as well as help with wider security measures.

“Today I also announce an independent root-and-branch review of the protective security provided by the state to those in public life.”

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he had not been informed which MPs have been named in the alleged list.

He told the Commons: “I have not been told which members are on the list. I’ve had no information. The only time I know is when members personally contact me, which I find very difficult to help and support.

“It’s much harder when you read it in a newspaper of which MPs have been targeted, and named, and me having no knowledge.

“I think it puts us all at a disadvantage, especially as we give the support of health and wellbeing and for security as well. So I think there is a gap that has not been closed.”

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