Post date: Jun 26, 2011 8:26:1 PM
A member of the Conservative Party has died at the Glastonbury music festival in southwest England, the festival's founder Michael Eavis said on Sunday (June 26).
Conservative Party aid worker found dead at Glastonbury music festival.
PILTON, SOMERSET, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 26, 2011) REUTERS - British media named him as Christopher Shale, chairman of West Oxfordshire Conservative Association. Eavis, who did not name the deceased, told reporters that while the cause of death was not confirmed, he understood it to be a suicide.
"It's a senior Tory member, the Tory party that was in charge of writing the Tory policies. And apparently I'm told it was a suicide situation this morning, in the early hours of this morning. He was in the Winnebago area and he was in the expensive park side with his family on the other side of the site, which is off site. So it's very, very sad." Eavis said on the last day of the Glastonbury music festival, which is held most years on his Worthy Farm.
Eavis said he and other Glastonbury workers were providing support to Shale's family.
"He was in the best possible - He was in the Winnebago area and he was found in the loo there, yes. His family were looking for him apparently during the night so we've been consoling his family this morning."
Initial media reports said the cause of his death was a heart attack but police at a news conference said they could not confirm whether the death was a suicide.
"A male has been found down by the press office in the toilet area. At the moment we're working to establish the cause of the gentleman's death and unfortunately I'm not able to give you any more information at the time. It's only a couple of hours since this has happened so we're working to establish the cause of the death," said Chris Morgan, Inspector for Avon and Somerset Police.
The man was found in a portable toilet in a backstage area where the upmarket accommodation is located.