Ann Widdecombe

Her father was a senior civil servant with the Ministry of Defence, and as he moved around the world Ann attended several schools, including the Royal Naval School Singapore and La Sainte Union Convent, Bath, before going up to Birmingham University (BA Latin 1969), and then Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (BA philosophy, politics and economics 1972, MA) She began her working life with Unilever in marketing 1973-75, before moving to London University in 1975, where she became the senior administrator.

Ann left the University to enter parliament in 1987.

In 1997 she famously accused Michael Howard, her political boss, of having "something of the night" about him, following a departmental dispute for which she took the rap.

Was voted Backbencher of the Year in 1998 which led to her being elevated to the Conservative Shadow Cabinet as Health Spokeswoman

She decided not to stand for the Conservative Party leadership in 2001, after the resignation of William Hague, because she wouldn't be able to gather enough support from her parliamentary colleagues.

It seemed to have blocked any rise in his career - until he was elected leader of the Conservative Party and of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in November 2003.

Participated in the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing (2004) in 2010, partnered with Anton du Beke, finishing sixth out of fourteen celebrities.

Was again re-elected as MP for Maidstone and The Weald. Is also working on her fifth novel "The Idealists". [May 2005]

She was elected as a Brexit Party MEP in 2019. As such, she was involved in what David Baddiel described as a "back-turning-stunt" in the EU Parliament. Baddiel called Widdecombe and her colleagues "Brexit Party wankers behaving like five year olds, and five year old twats at that".