Derek Draper, a former political adviser and husband of TV presenter Kate Garraway, has died after several years of serious health complications due to coronavirus.
The 56-year-old was said to be one of the UK’s longest-suffering COVID patients, spending 13 months in hospital after contracting the virus in March 2020.
He was left with extensive damage to his organs and needed daily care.
Image: Kate Garraway, with her husband Derek Draper and her parents Gordon and Marilyn Garraway, after being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2023
Garrawayposted a statement on Instagram this morning saying her “darling husband” had died and she had been “by his side holding his hand throughout his last long hours”.
She confirmed he suffered a heart attack in early December, adding that “the damage inflicted by COVID… led to further complications”.
“I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible,” she said.
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“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.”
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Garraway’s Good Morning Britain co-stars and other well-known faces shared their condolences under the Instagram post.
“Our whole hearts are with you all,” Susanna Reid said, while Charlotte Hawkins commented: “So desperately sorry Kate, it’s absolutely heartbreaking. So much love to you all.”
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Sir Elton John said: “So sorry to hear of this news, Kate. Love and thoughts to you and your family x.”
Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, who Draper worked with in the 1990s, said he was “so sad” to hear about his death.
Image: Kate Garraway with Derek Draper in 2007. Pic: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock
“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. This also says something very special about Derek,” he said.
“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.”
Alastair Campbell, a fellow prominent New Labour figure, described Derek Draper as “a huge character”.
He posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “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.”
A prominent figure in New Labour in the 1990s, Draper worked for Blairite Peter Mandelson and set up the Progress organisation with Liam Byrne, who went on to become an MP.
After he was embroiled in the so-called “cash-for-access” scandal, dubbed “lobbygate”, he travelled to the US, where he retrained as a psychotherapist.
Garraway and Draper married in 2005, and have two children together. They celebrated their 18th anniversary in September, with the presentersaying on Instagram that she was “so glad” he survived to see it.
Image: Kate Garraway and Derek Draper in 2006.
Pic: David Fisher/Shutterstock
Just a few days later, she published her book, The Strength Of Love: Embracing An Uncertain Future With Resilience And Optimism, chronicling the upending of life as she knew it when her husband fell ill.
“It’s a constant cycle of loving and losing, gratitude at surviving and grief for what’s been lost,” she said. “This book tells the story of how I am learning to find love and strength to help my family thrive and I hope what I have learned helps you to get through your own challenges.”
Garraway also made two documentaries about Draper’s health battle and his care, with both programmes winning National Television Awards in the authored documentary category.
Image: Derek Draper
In 2022, she shared a post on Instagram as the second show, Caring For Derek, received its nomination.
“The reason we made the documentary was to highlight carers, professional carers, and carers who are doing it for love and the tough challenges that that involves,” she said.
“As much as you don’t begrudge doing it, it’s very hard. You saw me frustrated, depressed, emotional, and I’ve been all of those and more in recent weeks and months.
“That’s the thing about caring; you want it to carry on because you want the person surviving and with you. But there isn’t an end point, and it doesn’t get any easier.”
Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.
Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.
Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?
The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.
The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.
High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.
The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.
Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.
The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.
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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.
French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.
A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.
“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.
“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”
It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.
“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.
“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.
He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.
“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.
“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.
“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”