Christopher Michael Henry Shale (23 August 1954[1] – 25 June 2011) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. He was chairman of the West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, and a close associate of Prime Minister and local MP David Cameron, who praised him for his "massive contribution to the Conservative Party, both locally and nationally".[2][3]
After leaving the army he joined Durdon Smith Communications and then became the chief executive of SGL Communications. In 1990 he then became the founder and managing director of Oxford Resources, a business supply consultancy.[2][4]
Shale was also a director of the Centre for Policy Studies between 2001 and 2005 and a sponsor of the eurosceptic thinktank Open Europe.
In June 2011 he was critical of the British Conservative Party in a strategy document that was leaked to the Mail on Sunday newspaper, saying that they came across as "graceless, voracious, crass, always on the take".[5]
Shale died of a heart attack whilst using a portable toilet cubicle at the Glastonbury Festival. Prior to the discovery of his body, he had been reported missing for 18 hours.[7]
