Editing Ann Widdecombe (section)

===Shadow Cabinet===
In May 1997, in the context of an inquiry into a series of prison escapes, Widdecombe remarked of former Home Secretary [[Michael Howard]], under whom she had served, that there was "something of the night about him".<ref>{{cite news|title=Widdecombe goes for the jugular|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/widdecombe-goes-for-the-jugular-1261224.html?amp|last1=Sengupta|first1=Kim|date=12 May 1997|work=The Independent|last2=Abrams|first2=Fran|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref>
This much-quoted comment is thought to have contributed to the failure of Howard's 1997 campaign for the [[1997 Conservative Party leadership election|Conservative Party leadership]], a sentiment shared by both Howard himself and Widdecombe. It led to him being caricatured as a [[vampire]], in part due to his Romanian ancestry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8435904.stm|title=Ann Widdecombe 'tested out' Howard quip|work=BBC News|date=31 December 2009|access-date=3 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Crick|first=Michael|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/mission-accomplished-how-howard-was-knifed-757lktbmgdt|title='Mission accomplished': how Howard was knifed|work=The Times|date=30 March 2005|access-date=3 April 2017}} {{subscription required}} Extract from Crick's book ''In search of Michael Howard''.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Holland|first1=David|title=Interview with a Vampire|url=https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2011/05/03/interview-with-a-vampire-2630|work=The Tab|date=3 May 2011}}</ref>  Howard became the official party leader in 2003, and Widdecombe then stated, "I explained fully what my objections were in 1997 and I do not retract anything I said then. But ... we have to look to the future and not the past."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/ann-widdecombe-fury-mep-says-16242224|title=Ann Widdecombe: Fury as MEP says 'science may produce an answer' to being gay|date=2 June 2019|work=Daily Mirror|access-date=2 June 2019|location=UK}}</ref>

After the Conservative landslide defeat at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], she served as [[Shadow Health Secretary]] between 1998 and 1999 and later as [[Shadow Home Secretary]] from 1999 to 2001 under the leadership of [[William Hague]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/person/5516/ann-widdecombe|title=Ann Widdecombe: Electoral history and profile|work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=22 August 2009 }}</ref>