Twenty-three years ago a new Tory MP stepped into the House of Commons for the first time to embark on what would become one of the most fascinating and eventful political careers.

As Ann Widdecombe prepares to file into the chamber for the last time in the next few weeks, she gives an insightful and revealing interview to the Kent Messenger, which has followed virtually her every move since 1987.

In that time she's served under six Conservative leaders and rose to Shadow Home Secretary. She's been a controversial figure with forthright views on a number of subjects and has maintained a high media profile, writing a weekly column in the Daily Express and chairing the TV programme Have I Got News For You.

Locally, her work as a constituency MP has been recognised with her being made a Freeman of the Borough of Maidstone. She's been at the forefront of every key issue affecting Maidstone over the past three decades.

Even her political opponents acknowledge her free-thinking approach to politics and her forthright and outspoken views on a range of issues, even if they don't agree with them.

She tells the KM's Angela Cole how she is preparing for life outside the political limelight, intending to settle in Dartmoor, but insists she will continue her love affair with Maidstone. "I would be very surprised if I didn't pop in from time to time," she admits.

And as the political temperature builds with a General Election just weeks away, she lets KM readers into a revealing secret: "I now prefer Countdown to Question Time," she admits.

See the current issue of the KM for the full interview.