Strictly’s Ann gets the hoof from home of Tory elite

ANN Widdecombe made history when she became the first woman in more than 170 years to be elected a member of the Carlton Club.

I can reveal that 12 years later she has notched up another record — by becoming the first woman to be expelled from it.

The redoubtable Widders is in no doubt that her remarkable political comeback led to her being booted out of the London bastion of the Conservative Party, which occupies a splendid townhouse in St James’s.

Ann, who survived incarceration on Celebrity Big Brother, stormed to victory as a Brexit Party candidate in the European elections last year, nearly a decade after standing down as a Tory MP.

Initially, she was gently advised to resign by the club hierarchy, but characteristically she declined to go quietly because of the support and encouragement she received from other members.

‘Many of them came up to me to thank me for taking a brave stand,’ says Ann, who, aside from becoming the club’s first-ever female member also became the first woman to be elected to the club’s committee in 2010.

‘Many more told me they were also voting for the Brexit Party at the European elections,’ Ann adds. ‘I have not encountered any hostility whatsoever at the club. Far more people said: “Thank you for what you are doing.” Some of them were Conservative councillors.’

Suitably encouraged, Ann stood her ground — only for the club to cancel the direct debit by which she paid her annual subscription. Since then, Ann, who put in an unforgettable performance on Strictly Come Dancing after leaving Westminster, has heard nothing more and knows of no means by which to appeal to the membership.

Friends detect a Remainer plot because Lord Heseltine is among those allowed to remain a club member even though he’s currently suspended from the Conservative Party after urging Tories to vote Liberal Democrat in the European elections and the General Election.

Major Simon Robinson, the club’s secretary, is disinclined to enlighten Widders on a possible club comeback. He tells me: ‘I’m afraid we can’t comment.’