A truly shocking bit of news for the whole of the Westminster Village. I've just been told by a lobby journalist that Gareth Butler has died of a heart attack at the age of only forty two. Gareth had worked at BBC Millbank for many years, latterly as deputy editor on the Politics Show. He was a political being to his fingertips, which was not surprising bearing in mind who is father is - David Butler, co-author of the British General Election series of books. Gareth had also inherited the role of editor of the British Political Facts series from his father. He recently left the BBC and had his first published article in the recent edition of Progress.
My heart goes out to his wife, two children and his parents. Losing a husband, father and son is a truly terrible thing for any family to go through. I am sure all the readers of this blog will join me in sending them our deep sympathies.
UPDATE: Read Jon Sopel's obituary of Gareth HERE.
3 comments:
The following is from the BBC intranet. I worked with Gareth once, tangentially, and found him to be a superb chap.
Gareth Butler, the Politics Show’s deputy editor, died suddenly on Friday, aged 42.
He had been with the BBC for more than 20 years and had worked on the Politics Show since its launch in 2003, but left the BBC earlier this month having taken voluntary redundancy.
A former editor of the World this Weekend, Butler was also editor of the reference work British Political Facts. He edited Radio ’s election programmes form 2004 onwards, as well as BBC coverage of many local, European and US polls. Apart from his encyclopaedic knowledge of politics, Butler also ran the radio news cricket team.
Jon Sopel, the presenter of the Politics Show, said: ‘The sudden death of Gareth Butler at the age of 42 has robbed politics and broadcasting of one of the cleverest, most knowledgeable and likeable people around.’
I knew Gareth quite well for a bit and I must say I am stunned by the news. He seemed in pretty good shape, and I massively regret now missing a lunch with him a few months back. This is very shocking and very sad news.
I have had the absolute pleasure of being captained by Gareth in his world famous "BBC Radio News Cricket Team", affectionately known as the "Butler 11" for the last three seasons. Gareth was a true gent, not the most gifted cricketer by any stretch of the imagination but a master tactician and someone who embodied the true spirit of the game, as I'm sure he did when working for the BBC or whilst supporting his beloved Arsenal. I can't think of many people I'd rather have a pint with and his untimely passing has left our team in a state of shock. It's an absolute tragedy and our thoughts are with his young family, siblings and parents.
Post a Comment