On 10 May 1997, in the immediate aftermath of the Conservative Party’s landslide election defeat, former prisons minister Ann Widdecombe delivered a quietly devastating personal attack on her former boss, Michael Howard.

The comment, an indelible character assassination, would haunt Howard for the rest of his political career.

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The bad blood between Howard and Widdecombe stemmed from the former’s time as home secretary. Widdecombe, who had served as his minister of state, was angered by his 1995 dismissal of Derek Lewis, the director-general of the prison service following a series of escapes. She believed Howard had misled parliament and unfairly blamed Lewis for systemic failings.

Widdecombe mulled over her chosen phrase for months before she unleashed it unto the world. She finally unveiled the quip during a phone call with the political editor of the Sunday Times, Michael Prescott. Having spoken of her plan to damage Howard’s leadership campaign, Widdecombe mentioned that the former home secretary had “something of the night about him”.

The former minister reportedly repeated the phrase several times, and asked to be credited with it. The quote appeared in print on 11 May.

Widdecombe’s criticism centred on Howard’s denial that he threatened to explicitly order Lewis to suspend the governor of Parkhurst prison. But it was her “something of the night” slur, with its ambiguous but sinister connotations, that drained the political lifeblood from Howard’s leadership campaign.

The immediate and devastating influence of the quip is difficult to recount. Commentators have suggested it captured, in an beguiling if intangible way, Howard’s abrasive character and political ruthlessness. It has also been seen as a thinly veiled reference to Howard’s Romanian roots.

Howard first addressed Widdecombe’s attack in an interview with the Spectator. The Conservative leadership candidate rejected the accusation he had misled the commons over Lewis’ sacking. He also joked that Widdecombe had pierced the “diabolic darkness of my own inner soul”.

Howard even embraced the accusation that he was “dangerous stuff”, declaring: “Endlessly splitting the difference just leads to endless splits… The next party leader must be prepared to take decisions which ruffle a few feathers and provoke the occasional tantrum when the situation requires.”

He added: “It will be a hard road back to power, and if… I am indeed dangerous stuff that may be part of what’s required to turn the tables on our New Labour masters.”

An ally of Howard’s took a considerably more pointed approach when they told the Daily Mail that Lewis had wooed Widdecombe with flowers, chocolates and intimate dinner dates. “I think she fell in love with him. He flattered her vanity”, the Mail was told. “I don’t think she was used to that, poor girl. I’m not sure he didn’t do it deliberately because she was a useful ally. In the end it clouded her judgment.”

Howard reportedly responded by ringing the paper’s editor in an attempt to have the quote pulled from later editions, without success. The subsequent row forced the former home secretary into the media studios. But his fightback hardly diminished accusations he was a deceptive political operator.

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In a notorious BBC Newsnight interview, Howard insisted that the Mail quotes had “not come from my campaign team”. Jeremy Paxman responded by drilling into the substance of the Lewis-Widdecombe row.

Howard, alleged to have put pressure on Lewis to suspend the governor of Parkhurst jail, was asked: “Did you threaten to overrule him?”

The Conservative leadership candidate evaded. But Paxman refused to relent, challenging the ex-home secretary on the same question a full 13 times. The uncomfortable stalemate contributed to Howard’s dwindling standing in the Tory leadership campaign.

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Widdecombe addressed the House of Commons six days later on 19 May 1997, during a debate on home affairs. She opened by paying a “very great and very genuine tribute to [Howard’s] work at the Home Office”.

But she added: “It is therefore with genuine sadness and considerable reluctance, which I have had to overcome, that I turn to the rest of my remarks. But for my utter conviction of their rightness and of the imperative that lies behind them, I should not be making these remarks at all.”

In concluding her 40-minute speech, a comprehensive castigation of Howard’s conduct, Widdecombe called for the new prime minister and Conservative leader to “clean up parliament’s image in the eyes of the British people.”

The Sun described Widdecombe’s speech as the “most savage attack ever seen in the commons”.

Howard also addressed the commons debate. Directing his remarks to the government frontbench, he accused Labour of mirroring the policies he pursued as home secretary.

He said: “It has been suggested that I have something of the night about my character.

“It is, of course, well known in folklore that creatures of the night have no reflection, so honourable members will understand my relief as I look across the dispatch box and see my reflection smiling back at me.”

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Howard was eliminated from the Conservative leadership contest in fifth place, having secured the support of only 23 colleagues in the first round of voting.

The former home secretary had previously been considered as a frontrunner. In fact, William Hague – the contest’s ultimate victor – originally entered the race as the junior partner on a joint-ticket with Howard.

The “something of the night” quip cast a long shadow over Howard’s political career and was resurrected after he succeeded Iain Duncan Smith as Conservative leader in 2003.

Meanwhile, the comment won Widdecombe a place in The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations. She later referred to it as “the quote of all time”.

In November 2001, Howard paraphrased the quip in response to a statement delivered by the chancellor, Gordon Brown.

Howard, then serving as shadow chancellor, set out to mock the strained relationship between Brown and Tony Blair.

He said: “The chancellor [said] that the prime minister was the best friend that he had had in politics. The prime minister knows that with this chancellor one has to read the small print: the chancellor used the past tense.

“It seems to me that his phrase had something of ‘Goodnight’ about it.”

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Howard was elected as Conservative leader unopposed on 6 November 2003 following Duncan Smith’s defenestration. At the time, Widdecombe said the haste with which other MPs announced the succession plan was “unseemly.”

Responding to his coronation, the new Tory leader said: “Who was it who said a week is a long time in politics?… It is an immense privilege to lead this party – the most successful party in the history of modern democracy. But it is also a truly awesome responsibility.

“I will work tirelessly not to let you down. But I will make mistakes. And I will inevitably at times upset some of you.

“And when that happens – indeed even when it does not happen – there are things we will need to remember. That we are a party broad and generous; broad in appeal and generous in outlook.”

In 2004, during his tenure as Tory leader, Howard said that he had forgiven Widdecombe for the quip. He told BBC Radio 4‘s Desert Island Discs: “You go into politics with your eyes open. You know it’s a rough and tough business. You have to take these things on the chin.”

Howard led the Conservative Party to a third consecutive defeat at the 2005 general election.

In 2006, he said that the remark was “very damaging” but that it “probably [saved] me from the thankless task of becoming leader of the party in 1997.”

In December 2009, Widdecombe admitted she prepared the phrase with the clear intention of damaging Howard’s political standing.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Widdecombe was asked if she knew in advance that the phrase was a “humdinger” that would seize the public imagination.

She responded: “Yes. I had tested it out. I had this phrase in my head… and he had no idea I was doing that – on the permanent secretary at the Home Office at the time.

“I said ‘I’m sorry, but there’s just something of the night here’ and he said ‘Yes!’ and I thought ‘Right, scored!’”

She added: “Then I tried it on a couple of other people who reacted similarly and I thought ‘Right, I’ve got a phrase that people understand’. You only understand a phrase like that if you don’t have to explain it.

“Ten years later, people often ask me to explain it and at this point I can’t, because the whole idea was that it spoke to people’s instincts at the time.”

Asked if she felt her attack had finished Howard politically, Widdecombe said: “It clearly didn’t, because he came back as leader of the opposition.

“Possibly at the time [it did], and that was the intention at the time. I wasn’t trying to be complimentary.”

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In 2011, Howard was asked if the quip had “dogged” his political career. He told the Tab: “Well, my political career is over, so there’s no more dogging to be doing.

“I have no idea what [Widdecombe] meant by it, but it didn’t stop me becoming leader of the Conservatives and leader of the opposition.”

Both Widdecombe and Howard stood down as Conservative MPs at the 2010 general election.

Howard was elevated to the peerage as Baron Howard of Lympne in July 2010.

As a long-time favourite of the Conservative grassroots, owing to her forthright style and views, Widdecombe established herself as a staple of the after-dinner speaker circuit for local Conservative associations. She turned down multiple invitations to participate in the BBC’s popular entertainment show, Strictly Come Dancing, before finally relenting ahead of the 2010 series.

Partnered with professional dancer Anton du Beke, Widdecombe became a surprising audience favourite despite her obvious lack of technical dancing skill. Known for her comedic and often theatrical routines, she remained in the competition for 10 weeks.   

In January 2018, Widdecombe participated in Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother, finishing as runner-up.

Widdecombe made a shock return to frontline politics in 2019 as the lead candidate for Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit Party in the South West England constituency for the European Parliament elections. In keeping with strong results nationally for the party, Widdecombe was elected as a Brexit Party MEP. She served in Brussels until Britain’s formal departure from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Widdecombe stood as the Brexit Party candidate for the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency in the 2019 general election. She came a distant third behind the Labour and Conservative candidates with only 2,909 votes (5.5%).

The Brexit Party’s rebrand as “Reform UK” was approved by the Electoral Commission in January 2021.

Widdecombe was still described as “Reform UK spokesperson” as of June 2026 and campaigned in the sensational Makerfield by-election.

Widdecombe was found dead at her home on 9 July 2026, aged 78. Devon and Cornwall Police launched a murder investigation, which was later taken over by counter-terrorism police.

Howard paid tribute to Widdecombe in an article for the Telegraph newspaper. He argued that Widdecombe’s famous barb did him something of a “favour”.

He stated: “I don’t think William Hague particularly enjoyed his time as leader during the very difficult period following our defeat in 1997, and I had my chance later…

“Ann and I later made up. She wasn’t able to accept the post I offered her in my shadow cabinet, but we spoke on the same side in some of the debates on Brexit, and were able to come to terms with the events which by then had begun to fade into the past.

“The terrible circumstances of her death should not be allowed to overshadow the remarkable contribution she made and the extraordinary human being she was. She leaves a hole in our national life which will never be filled. She will be greatly missed.”