Christopher Shale, an Oxfordshire businessman who became a prominent organiser in David Cameron's West Oxfordshire constituency, won the prime minister's trust and helped establish key party fundraising initiatives.
A married father who would have been 57 in August, Shale only recently became chairman of the West Oxfordshire Conservative Association after a business career including the ownership of a group purchasing consultancy called Oxford Resources Ltd as well as property interests.
Described by one senior Conservative politician who knew him as "a man in a permanently good mood", Shale became a regular at national Conservative events and is said to have helped establish the party patrons club, a scheme to raise money for the Tories.
Previously, he was the chief executive of SGL Communications and was also a director of the Centre for Policy Studies between 2001 and 2005 and a sponsor of the eurosceptic thinktank OpenEurope.
On Sunday, Cameron described Shale as "a big rock in my life" and "a close and valued friend". He was among the close allies who joined the PM after midnight on polling day in 2010 at the New Inn in Witney.
"He was a successful and well-connected businessman who got involved in politics because he liked David," one senior Conservative politician said.
"He was a sophisticated man and a local organiser, but you would see him at national events because he was so well-connected."
Shale lived in Over Worton, in the rolling Oxfordshire countryside around Chipping Norton which has become a weekend powerbase for the Conservatives and their media allies.
His family home is six miles from the Camerons' constituency cottage and a short drive from the homes of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, Elizabeth Murdoch, a board director of News Corp, and Steve Hilton, Cameron's director of strategy in Downing Street.
"He was a very positive and enthusiastic man, full of ideas," Mike Howes, the president of the Chipping Norton branch of the association, said.
"He was only just appointed as chairman about six months ago and we were looking forward to stability. He was keen on promoting membership and being positive and he was very supportive of David [Cameron], which is what we all want."
Shale had been involved in a Conservative party project to help people in Umubano, Rwanda, and made his fifth visit there this year.
"I have hundreds of happy moments from Rwanda," he wrote on the project's website. "It has always been such a mix of people, all ages and talents, learning from and laughing with our Rwandan partners – some of the most inspirational people I have ever met. I'd urge people to do whatever necessary to raise the money to visit Umubano."
"We are all very, very sad," Marion Dowding, Shale's deputy at the West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, said. "He was a lovely guy."
