Who was Derek Draper and when did he marry Kate Garraway?
26.03.2024 - 20:45
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Lancashire-born Derek Draper was "someone you always wanted on your side”, according to former Prime Minister Tony Blair. The political advisor-turned psychotherapist died in January at the age of 56 after nearly four years of battling with the effects contractiong Covid had on his body.
The husband of TV star Kate Garraway, he first came to public prominence in 1998 in the “Lobbygate scandal”. He later vowed to leave politics behind - but as the son of a British Leyland shop steward and the grandson of a miner, it was in his blood.
A new ITV documentary, Kate Garraway: Derek's Story, airing on Tuesday night (March 26) will give viewers an insight into his final moments with his family. Read on to find out about his life and career and relationship with Kate Garraway.
Derek was born in Chorley in 1967. He knew he wanted to go into politics while at Southlands High School and did his A-levels at Runshaw college, Leyland, before studying economics at the University of Manchester. He had his first brush with the higher echelons of the Labour Party while at university.
He wrote in the New Statesman in 1999 that Ken Livingstone, who was in the city giving a talk to Manchester University Labour Club, ended up having a cup of tea in his student flat after the former London Mayor missed his train. He added that "in pride of place on my wall" was a big poster of Roy Hattersley.
He began his political career in 1990 as constituency secretary for Labour MP Nick Brown but wanted to work at Westminster. After impressing spin doctor Peter Mandelson, he was hired as his researcher in 1992, becoming a key figure in the New Labour era.
In 1996, he became the director of lobbying firm GPC Market Access but in 2008 returned to the Labour