The Man Accused of Murdering Ann Widdecombe With a Hammer Has Now Been Charged With a Terror Plot Against Nigel Farage
In 60 seconds: British counter-terrorism police have charged Joshua Kerry — the 28-year-old already accused of murdering former minister Ann Widdecombe with a hammer — with preparing acts of terrorism, including a plot against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. He appears in court on Wednesday.
- Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, was charged Friday with one count of preparation of terrorist acts, covering alleged activity from May 2024 to July 2026.
- Police say the alleged plotting included targeting Reform UK leader Nigel Farage; prosecutors say there is "sufficient evidence to bring this case to court."
- Kerry is already awaiting trial for the murder of Ann Widdecombe, 78 — found dead at her Dartmoor home in July after being struck 21 times with a hammer.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called it "an attack on us all" and promised an MP-security review when Parliament returns.
Nigel Farage speaking at a 2025 event. British counter-terrorism police say the alleged terror plot targeted the Reform UK leader. Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
What happened
On Friday, Britain's Counter Terrorism Policing announced the country's biggest political-crime story of the year: Joshua Kerry, 28, has been charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts — including, police say, against Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK.
The single count covers alleged activity between May 31, 2024, and July 8, 2026. Frank Ferguson, a Chief Crown Prosecutor with the CPS's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said prosecutors had "worked closely with police to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court, and we will continue working with them as their investigation progresses."
Kerry is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday, October 7.
Latest verified facts
The terror charge lands on top of an already shocking murder case. Kerry was arrested on July 11 and charged on July 20 with the murder of Ann Widdecombe, 78 — the Reform UK spokeswoman and former Conservative minister and MP — who was found dead at her remote home in Haytor on Dartmoor. A court previously heard she had been struck on the head 21 times with a hammer. Her body was found on July 9; police estimated she had been dead around 24 hours. Kerry is alleged to have driven nearly 265 miles from his home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, to carry out the attack.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said detectives had "been running a hugely intensive and complex investigation for some time," led by "a dedicated team of detectives, analysts, and forensic experts, working on multiple lines of enquiry."
The political reaction was swift. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said her "profound sympathies" were with Farage and his family: "Let no one make any mistake: an attack on anyone in politics is an attack on us all. This case raises serious questions about the security of those in public life." She promised that once Parliament returns, she would update MPs on work "to strengthen protections for those who choose to serve."
The Times reports that Farage received a £5 million gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne in April 2024 — money Farage said was for security — and that he told supporters in the summer he was receiving more than 300 threats a month.
Why it matters
Britain has not faced a case like this in years: a sitting party leader allegedly targeted for terrorism by a man already accused of murdering one of his party's most prominent figures. The Widdecombe killing alone — a 78-year-old former minister bludgeoned in her own home — horrified the country in July. The revelation that the same suspect was allegedly preparing terrorist acts, with Farage named as a target, turns a murder trial into a national-security reckoning.
It also detonates inside an already volatile political atmosphere. Reform UK has surged in the polls, and Farage is arguably the most consequential — and most polarizing — figure in British politics. A plot against him will be read, fairly or not, through every existing fault line in the country's politics.
Impact on the USA and the world
For American readers, the parallels are hard to miss. The United States has spent the last several years confronting political violence of its own — and the British debate now beginning, over how to protect elected officials without turning public life into a fortress, is one Washington knows intimately. Mahmood's framing — "an attack on anyone in politics is an attack on us all" — echoes language American leaders have reached for after attacks on their own.
Internationally, the case will sharpen scrutiny of lone-actor radicalization and the security of high-profile populist leaders, a cohort that has faced threats across Europe. Expect allied intelligence services to be watching what the "multiple lines of enquiry" turn up.
What happens next
Wednesday's appearance at Westminster Magistrates' Court is the immediate milestone — expect the first public airing of what the prosecution alleges Kerry actually did. The murder trial for Widdecombe's killing remains on its own track, and the two cases together will dominate British headlines for months.
The bigger open questions: what did counter-terrorism detectives find in Kerry's background since July, how far the alleged plotting against Farage progressed, and whether anyone else was involved. And then the hardest one — the security review Mahmood promised. Britain's MPs have debated their own safety after the murders of Jo Cox and David Amess; this case will force the question again, with higher stakes than ever.