Former president of the Oxford Union, Eddie Tomlinson travelled to Beirut to study Arabic whilst taking a gap year after graduating in Classics from St John's College, Oxford. A few weeks later he tragically died from carbon monoxide poisoning from the fumes of a faulty gas heater. He was a fit, strong, and sporty young man who had political ambitions. He was one of very few people who, like William Hague, have jointly held the positions of president of the Oxford Union and the Oxford University Conservative Association.