Lobbyist turned psychotherapist Derek Draper dies aged 56

Tributes have poured in for Derek Draper, the political lobbyist turned psychotherapist and husband of the TV presenter Kate Garraway, who has died at the age of 56.

Draper had been seriously ill with long Covid since contracting the disease in 2020. Garraway announced his death on Friday, writing on Instagram: “I’m sad to have to tell you all that my darling husband Derek has passed away”.

She added: “As some of you may know he has 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. Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed.”

Garraway said she would say more in due course but thanked the medical teams “who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible”.

She added: “Sending so much love and thanks to all of you who have so generously given our family so much support. Rest gently and peacefully now Derek, my love, I was so lucky to have you in my life.”

Garraway will be taking a break from her TV and radio presenting roles for the time being, but plans to return to work in the future, PA Media reported.

Draper, a prominent figure in New Labour in the 1990s, set up the Progress organisation with Liam Byrne, who went on to become an MP. After he was embroiled in the “cash for access” scandal, known as Lobbygate, he moved to the US, where he retrained as a psychotherapist.

The former prime minister Sir Tony Blair led Labour tributes to his former political adviser. “He was a tough, sometimes ruthless political operative, a brilliant adviser and someone you always wanted on your side,” Blair wrote. “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 right at the beginning. But most important of all, he was a good colleague and great friend. And we will miss him deeply.”

Another former Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, wrote on social media: “I will remember him as brilliant, creative and multitalented, and our thoughts are with Kate, Darcey and Billy [the couple’s children].”

Alastair Campbell, a fellow prominent New Labour figure, described Draper as “a huge character”. He tweeted: “Very sad to hear the news about Derek Draper. He was a huge character, a giver not a taker, and had so much more to give before Covid took its toll. Sad above all for [Kate Garraway] and the children. Their love and support was profound and unshakeable to the end. RIP”.

Draper fell seriously ill with Covid-19 in March 2020 and spent 13 months in hospital before he was discharged. Garraway has previously said her husband was one of the sickest patients with Covid-19 doctors had treated.

In an interview in June 2020, a few months after Draper contracted the virus, Garraway told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “[The doctors] have never seen this before. My doctors say to me he is the worst-affected person they’ve had to treat. They said he is one of five cases in the world like this.”

By June 2020, Draper was “Covid-free”, said Garraway, but it had “wreaked extraordinary damage on his body and we don’t know if he can recover from that”.

During his time in hospital in 2020, Draper was put on a ventilator and placed in an induced coma for several weeks. Just over a year after contracting Covid, he was able to leave hospital and return to his family home in north London, with round-the-clock care.

In August 2022 he was taken to hospital with sepsis but pulled through. Then in early December 2023, Draper had a heart attack and was taken to hospital again.

In 2021, Garraway, a Good Morning Britain presenter, won a National Television award for the documentary Finding Derek, about her family’s experience during the pandemic.

The shadow business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, wrote on X: “So sad to hear this news this morning. When I was a student at Manchester, Derek was still talked about around University of Manchester. 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.”

Long Covid is still not well understood: the condition is still being studied and the NHS has set up services to help those worst affected.

But according to data released by the Office for National Statistics in February last year, the last dataset available, about six in 10 people with long Covid in the UK were likely to have had symptoms for a year or more.

The data also revealed an estimated 2 million people living in private households in the UK were experiencing self-reported long Covid, with symptoms including extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of smell, muscle aches, problems with memory and concentration, chest pain, insomnia, and heart and lung problems. Other common features include joint pain, depression, anxiety, diarrhoea, stomach aches and loss of appetite.

Garraway and Draper married in 2005 and have two children.