Derek Draper: Labour figures pay tribute to former adviser and LabourList editor

Tributes have been paid to the former Labour political adviser and founder and first editor of LabourList Derek Draper, after his wife TV presenter Kate Garraway announced that he had died.

“I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away,” Garraway wrote in a post on Instagram earlier today. She said Draper “was surrounded by his family in his final days” and she “was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed”.

The TV presenter said her husband had been “critically ill following a cardiac arrest in early December which, because of the damage inflicted by Covid in March 2020, led to further complications”.

Draper spent more than a year in hospital after being admitted with coronavirus symptoms in March 2020, during which time he was put into a coma for several months.

 

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Draper was a political adviser during the New Labour era, a lobbyist and the founder and first editor of LabourList.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement on X: “I am so sad to hear the news about Derek. My heart goes out to Kate and their children William and Darcey.

“It is extraordinary and remarkable that Derek survived so long after the ravages of Covid. And that was in large measure due to the love Derek had for his family and they for him. He was a tough, sometimes ruthless political operative, a brilliant adviser and someone you always wanted on your side.

“But underneath that tough exterior, he was a loving, kind, generous and good-natured man you wanted as a friend. He was an important part of the New Labour story, at the centre of things at the beginning. But most important of all, he was a good colleague and a great friend. And we will miss him deeply.”

Blair’s successor as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said in a post on X: “So sad that after such a brave struggle Derek Draper has lost his life as a result of Covid. I will remember him as brilliant, creative and multitalented, and our thoughts are with Kate, Darcey and Billy. RIP Derek.”

Alastair Campbell described Draper as “a huge character” and “a giver not a taker” who “had so much more to give before Covid took its toll”. He added: “Sad above all for [Kate Garraway] and the children. Their love and support was profound and unshakeable to the end.”

Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he was “so sad” to hear the news, adding: “When I was a student at Manchester, Derek was still talked about around [the students’ union]. When I met him, I always found him thoughtful and kind, quite different to his public image at the time. Prayers for him and his family.”