Derek Draper
Encyclopedia
Derek William Draper is a former lobbyist, former editor of the LabourList
website, and psychotherapist
. As a political advisor during the 1990s he became widely known for his role in two political scandals, "Lobbygate" and "Smeargate".
, graduating in 1984. He later attended Runshaw College
, Leyland and the University of Manchester
. While at the university, Draper provided hospitality for Ken Livingstone
, who had missed his train after a Labour Club meeting. Livingstone was reportedly astonished to find displayed in Draper's student room an improbable large poster of Labour Party deputy leader, Roy Hattersley
.
At around this time, he first met Charlotte Raven
, with whom he was later involved romantically.
Draper began his political career in 1990, when he became the constituency secretary for Nick Brown
. In 1992, he left this job and went to work as a researcher for MP for Hartlepool
Peter Mandelson
. In 1996, he became a director of a lobbying firm called GPC Market Access, and was employed by them until early 1999. While working at GPC Market Access, he set up the New Labour organisation Progress
. During the late 1990s, Draper worked as the Political Editor of the Modern Review
, was briefly a columnist for the Daily Express
, and a presenter on Talk Radio UK.
, boasting to Greg Palast
- an undercover reporter from The Observer
posing as a businessman - about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients. When the tabloids got hold of the story, they dubbed it "Lobbygate". On the recording, Draper said that "there are 17 people who count in this government ... [to] say I am intimate with every one of them is the understatement of the century." Palast also wrote that Draper said, regarding his motivation: "I just want to stuff my bank account at 250 pounds an hour" he went on to add that "Draper was nothing more than a messenger boy, a factotum, a purveyor, a self-loving, over-scented clerk". Although he denied the allegations and accused The Observer of attempting to entrap him, he was widely ridiculed in the aftermath. Palast later stated that the subsequent media coverage got his original story wrong, and that it was not primarily about boastful lobbyists: "the real story was about Tony Blair
and his inner circle".
Following his involvement in the "Lobbygate" scandal, Draper was sacked from his job at the Daily Express and generally shunned by Labour insiders. His friend Peter Mandelson
said that Draper "[h]as a fine intelligence, but sometimes I am afraid he misuses that intelligence. He gets above himself. But now he has been cut down to size and I think probably he will learn a very hard lesson from what has happened."
after "three years in Berkeley, California". While in Berkeley, worked as "the development director of a community counselling centre"; later, to have entered "private practice in Marylebone, London". He has since clarified that he in fact studied at the Wright Institute
of California, a graduate school in the town of Berkeley founded by Nevitt Sanford
. Draper has also been reported to have been studying for a second MA at the Tavistock Clinic
. Draper responded to the controversy surrounding his claimed psychotherapy degree, by denying the allegations completely and saying that this was "a brazen attempt to smear me by Guido Fawkes
and David Hencke". He has also stated he is considering taking legal action against them.
Draper is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy,. Draper writes an occasional column for the Mail on Sunday newspaper on psychotherapy issues and also writes monthly columns in the magazines “Psychologies” and “Therapy Today”. He is also the author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS
.
In response to a formal complaint the BACP announced (Nov 24 2009) in a statement on their web site that it has "considered complaints received against Mr Draper concerning his involvement in an email scandal earlier this year which brought his profession as a psychotherapist into the public domain and therefore the name and reputation of BACP. An independent Appeal Panel was convened to consider the matter and decided, in the light of all the evidence and the commitments of Mr Draper, that his membership of this Association would not be withdrawn." It further clarifies Drapers qualifications. "Derek Draper has the following qualifications: An M.A. in Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley (2004) and a second M.A. in the Foundations of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the Tavistock Centre, London / Essex University (2009). The former was the result of three years full time study, the latter of two years of part-time study. As part of his first M.A. he undertook an extensive clinical training, undertaking over 1500 hours of supervised clinical work with different client populations and therapeutic modalities."
In the 2005 General Election Draper urged people to vote tactically against Labour, saying, "I don't want my vote to be used as vindication for Tony Blair, I'd like him to wake up after the election and feel like a hunted man".
On 7 June 2009, emails that were highly critical of Gordon Brown
that Peter Mandelson
sent Draper in January 2008 were leaked to the News of the World
which claimed that Brown was "insecure" and a "self-conscious person, physically and emotionally".
, on 12 September 2008, as a Labour Campaign Advisor. Draper's position at that time was as an unpaid adviser to Ray Collins, the General Secretary of the Labour Party.
Draper was the editor of LabourList.org
, which was launched in January 2009. He explained that he started the website in response to the increasing role that the internet was playing in British politics and so that Labourites would have their own place on the blogosphere
. Contributors to his website include David Lammy
, Peter Mandelson
, James Purnell
and Piers Morgan
. Although LabourList
was generally supportive of the Labour Party
, it claimed to publish articles and views critical of the Labour government.
Draper stepped down as editor of LabourList
in May 2009 following "Smeargate"
.
On 11 April 2009, it was reported by the Daily Telegraph that Gordon Brown
's special adviser, Damian McBride
had sent a series of emails to Draper discussing plans to set up a blog which would be used to post false rumours about the private lives of senior members of the Conservative Party
and their spouses. These smears would have included sexual and personal fabrications against MP Nadine Dorries
, Conservative leader David Cameron
and his wife, Samantha
, and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne
and his wife Frances
.
The emails, which had been sent from the Downing Street Press Office, found their way to Paul Staines
, who brought them to the attention of the media. McBride resigned later the same day, and 10 Downing Street issued an apology for the "juvenile and inappropriate" emails. Gordon Brown
sent personal letters to those who had been mentioned in the emails, expressing his regret over the incident, but Conservative politicians called for him to make a public apology. Brown apologised a few days later while on a visit to Glasgow
, saying that he was sorry about what had happened.
Draper later apologised for his part in the affair. Although in his reply to McBride's email he had described the idea as "absolutely totally brilliant", Draper claimed that he only responded to the email in order to gain favour from Downing Street for LabourList. A closer examination of Draper's emailed reply shows the plot was far more advanced, with Draper knowing that the controversial Red Rag
blogsite had already been set up and offering to sort out the technology with trade union official Andrew Dodgshon.
The national press referred to McBride and Draper's actions as an "orchestrated strategy of dishonesty".
Trevor Kavanagh
of The Sun
described Draper as an "unstable cocktail of charm and venom".
In the wake of the incident, Labour sought to distance itself from Draper's LabourList blog, saying that his website is not owned by the Labour Party. Draper also came under pressure to resign his post as editor of LabourList. Peter Oborne
criticised Draper's failure to resign and his continued association with the site as "morally revolting".
It was reported on 6 May 2009 that Draper stepped down from his position as editor of the LabourList
website in the wake of the No 10 smears scandal. In his resignation statement, Draper is reported as to have said: "I regret ever receiving the infamous email and I regret my stupid, hasty reply. I should have said straight away that the idea was wrong."
in 2005 in Camden, London
; they have two children, Darcey Mary Draper born (10 March 2006) and William 'Billy' Garraway Draper born (28 July 2009).
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
website, and psychotherapist
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
. As a political advisor during the 1990s he became widely known for his role in two political scandals, "Lobbygate" and "Smeargate".
Biography
Draper was educated at Southlands High School in ChorleyChorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
, graduating in 1984. He later attended Runshaw College
Runshaw College
Runshaw College is a further and higher education college based at three centres in Leyland and Chorley, Lancashire, England.-History:The college was founded in Leyland when the sixth forms of Parklands High School and Balshaw's CE High School were amalgamated in 1974 to make a sixth form college...
, Leyland and the University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
. While at the university, Draper provided hospitality for Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
, who had missed his train after a Labour Club meeting. Livingstone was reportedly astonished to find displayed in Draper's student room an improbable large poster of Labour Party deputy leader, Roy Hattersley
Roy Hattersley
Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...
.
At around this time, he first met Charlotte Raven
Charlotte Raven
Charlotte Raven is a British author and journalist.She studied English at Manchester University. As a Labour Club activist there in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was part of a successful campaign to oust then student union communications officer Derek Draper, though she subsequently had a...
, with whom he was later involved romantically.
Draper began his political career in 1990, when he became the constituency secretary for Nick Brown
Nick Brown
Nicholas Hugh "Nick" Brown is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983...
. In 1992, he left this job and went to work as a researcher for MP for Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
. In 1996, he became a director of a lobbying firm called GPC Market Access, and was employed by them until early 1999. While working at GPC Market Access, he set up the New Labour organisation Progress
Progress (organisation)
Progress is a political organisation linked to the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1996. It is broadly viewed as supportive of the leadership of the party, being pro-former leader Tony Blair...
. During the late 1990s, Draper worked as the Political Editor of the Modern Review
Modern Review
Modern Review has been used as a name for a number of magazines:* Modern Review * Modern Review * Modern Review...
, was briefly a columnist for the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, and a presenter on Talk Radio UK.
'Lobbygate'
In 1998, while still working as a director at GPC Market Access, Draper was caught on tape, with Jonathan MendelsohnJonathan Mendelsohn
Jonathan Mendelsohn is the director of general election resources for the British Labour Party. He had previously been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming...
, boasting to Greg Palast
Greg Palast
Gregory Allyn Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author and a freelance journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as the British newspaper The Observer. His work frequently focuses on corporate malfeasance but has also been known to work with labor unions and consumer...
- an undercover reporter from The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
posing as a businessman - about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients. When the tabloids got hold of the story, they dubbed it "Lobbygate". On the recording, Draper said that "there are 17 people who count in this government ... [to] say I am intimate with every one of them is the understatement of the century." Palast also wrote that Draper said, regarding his motivation: "I just want to stuff my bank account at 250 pounds an hour" he went on to add that "Draper was nothing more than a messenger boy, a factotum, a purveyor, a self-loving, over-scented clerk". Although he denied the allegations and accused The Observer of attempting to entrap him, he was widely ridiculed in the aftermath. Palast later stated that the subsequent media coverage got his original story wrong, and that it was not primarily about boastful lobbyists: "the real story was about Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and his inner circle".
Following his involvement in the "Lobbygate" scandal, Draper was sacked from his job at the Daily Express and generally shunned by Labour insiders. His friend Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
said that Draper "[h]as a fine intelligence, but sometimes I am afraid he misuses that intelligence. He gets above himself. But now he has been cut down to size and I think probably he will learn a very hard lesson from what has happened."
After politics
After leaving politics, Draper retrained as a psychotherapist, obtaining an MA in clinical psychologyClinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
after "three years in Berkeley, California". While in Berkeley, worked as "the development director of a community counselling centre"; later, to have entered "private practice in Marylebone, London". He has since clarified that he in fact studied at the Wright Institute
Wright Institute
The Wright Institute is a Clinical Psychology Graduate School located in Berkeley, California.-Founding:The Institute was founded by Nevitt Sanford in 1968 when he left Stanford...
of California, a graduate school in the town of Berkeley founded by Nevitt Sanford
Nevitt Sanford
Nevitt Sanford was professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. He studied ethnocentrism and antisemitism, and was one of the authors of The Authoritarian Personality. His co-authors in this work were Theodor W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik and Daniel Levinson...
. Draper has also been reported to have been studying for a second MA at the Tavistock Clinic
Tavistock Clinic
The in London was founded in 1920 by Dr. Hugh Crichton-Miller, a psychiatrist who developed psychological treatments for shell-shocked soldiers during and after the First World War. The clinic's first patient was, however, a child. Its clinical services were always, therefore, for both children...
. Draper responded to the controversy surrounding his claimed psychotherapy degree, by denying the allegations completely and saying that this was "a brazen attempt to smear me by Guido Fawkes
Paul Staines
Paul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political...
and David Hencke". He has also stated he is considering taking legal action against them.
Draper is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy,. Draper writes an occasional column for the Mail on Sunday newspaper on psychotherapy issues and also writes monthly columns in the magazines “Psychologies” and “Therapy Today”. He is also the author of a chapter in The Future of the NHS
The Future of the NHS
The Future of the NHS is a book published by xpl Publishing in 2006 . It is edited by Dr Michelle Tempest and brings together forty-four leading experts in the fields of health care, politics and policy making...
.
In response to a formal complaint the BACP announced (Nov 24 2009) in a statement on their web site that it has "considered complaints received against Mr Draper concerning his involvement in an email scandal earlier this year which brought his profession as a psychotherapist into the public domain and therefore the name and reputation of BACP. An independent Appeal Panel was convened to consider the matter and decided, in the light of all the evidence and the commitments of Mr Draper, that his membership of this Association would not be withdrawn." It further clarifies Drapers qualifications. "Derek Draper has the following qualifications: An M.A. in Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley (2004) and a second M.A. in the Foundations of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the Tavistock Centre, London / Essex University (2009). The former was the result of three years full time study, the latter of two years of part-time study. As part of his first M.A. he undertook an extensive clinical training, undertaking over 1500 hours of supervised clinical work with different client populations and therapeutic modalities."
In the 2005 General Election Draper urged people to vote tactically against Labour, saying, "I don't want my vote to be used as vindication for Tony Blair, I'd like him to wake up after the election and feel like a hunted man".
On 7 June 2009, emails that were highly critical of Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
that Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
sent Draper in January 2008 were leaked to the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
which claimed that Brown was "insecure" and a "self-conscious person, physically and emotionally".
LabourList and 'Smeargate'
During 2008, Draper made a return to British politics. He was described on the BBC television current affairs programme NewsnightNewsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
, on 12 September 2008, as a Labour Campaign Advisor. Draper's position at that time was as an unpaid adviser to Ray Collins, the General Secretary of the Labour Party.
Draper was the editor of LabourList.org
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
, which was launched in January 2009. He explained that he started the website in response to the increasing role that the internet was playing in British politics and so that Labourites would have their own place on the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
. Contributors to his website include David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
, Peter Mandelson
Peter Mandelson
Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, PC is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool from 1992 to 2004, served in a number of Cabinet positions under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and was a European Commissioner...
, James Purnell
James Purnell
James Mark Dakin Purnell is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010. He is currently the Head of the Open Left project at the left leaning think tank Demos...
and Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
. Although LabourList
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
was generally supportive of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, it claimed to publish articles and views critical of the Labour government.
Draper stepped down as editor of LabourList
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
in May 2009 following "Smeargate"
Damian McBride
Damian McBride is a former civil servant and former special advisor to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. McBride began his civil service career at HM Customs and Excise...
.
On 11 April 2009, it was reported by the Daily Telegraph that Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's special adviser, Damian McBride
Damian McBride
Damian McBride is a former civil servant and former special advisor to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. McBride began his civil service career at HM Customs and Excise...
had sent a series of emails to Draper discussing plans to set up a blog which would be used to post false rumours about the private lives of senior members of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and their spouses. These smears would have included sexual and personal fabrications against MP Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorries
Nadine Vanessa Dorries is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Mid Bedfordshire since 2005. She has been involved in parliamentary attempts to change the laws on abortion....
, Conservative leader David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
and his wife, Samantha
Samantha Cameron
Samantha Gwendoline Cameron , often known simply as "Sam Cam", is a British business executive and wife of David Cameron, the current Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom....
, and Shadow Chancellor George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
and his wife Frances
Frances Osborne
Frances Osborne is a British author. She is the eldest daughter of former and current Conservative Cabinet Minister David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford and Cary Davina Wallace....
.
The emails, which had been sent from the Downing Street Press Office, found their way to Paul Staines
Paul Staines
Paul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political...
, who brought them to the attention of the media. McBride resigned later the same day, and 10 Downing Street issued an apology for the "juvenile and inappropriate" emails. Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
sent personal letters to those who had been mentioned in the emails, expressing his regret over the incident, but Conservative politicians called for him to make a public apology. Brown apologised a few days later while on a visit to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, saying that he was sorry about what had happened.
Draper later apologised for his part in the affair. Although in his reply to McBride's email he had described the idea as "absolutely totally brilliant", Draper claimed that he only responded to the email in order to gain favour from Downing Street for LabourList. A closer examination of Draper's emailed reply shows the plot was far more advanced, with Draper knowing that the controversial Red Rag
Red Rag
The Red Rag blogsite was at the centre of a UK political scandal that became known as smeargate. The scandal broke on 11 April 2009 when it was reported by the Daily Telegraph that Gordon Brown's special adviser, Damian McBride, had sent a series of emails to left wing political blogger Derek...
blogsite had already been set up and offering to sort out the technology with trade union official Andrew Dodgshon.
The national press referred to McBride and Draper's actions as an "orchestrated strategy of dishonesty".
Trevor Kavanagh
Trevor Kavanagh
Trevor Michael Thomas Kavanagh is a journalist and formerly the Political Editor of the Sun newspaper.Trevor Kavanagh was educated at Reigate Grammar School before leaving school at 17 to work for newspapers in Surrey and later Hereford. In 1965 he emigrated to Australia, working on several...
of The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
described Draper as an "unstable cocktail of charm and venom".
In the wake of the incident, Labour sought to distance itself from Draper's LabourList blog, saying that his website is not owned by the Labour Party. Draper also came under pressure to resign his post as editor of LabourList. Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne
Peter Oborne is a British journalist and political commentator. He was educated at Sherborne School and The University of Cambridge. He is a Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph columnist, author of The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class, and, with Frances Weaver, the...
criticised Draper's failure to resign and his continued association with the site as "morally revolting".
It was reported on 6 May 2009 that Draper stepped down from his position as editor of the LabourList
LabourList
LabourList is a British aggregated weblog supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party. Launched in January 2009, the site overcame its founding editor's involvement in the so-called "smeargate scandal" to become one of the most popular and influential political websites in Britain with...
website in the wake of the No 10 smears scandal. In his resignation statement, Draper is reported as to have said: "I regret ever receiving the infamous email and I regret my stupid, hasty reply. I should have said straight away that the idea was wrong."
Personal life
Draper married GMTV presenter Kate GarrawayKate Garraway
Kathryn Mary Garraway is an English journalist currently employed by ITV Breakfast.She has presented the UK version of The Biggest Loser.-Early life:...
in 2005 in Camden, London
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
; they have two children, Darcey Mary Draper born (10 March 2006) and William 'Billy' Garraway Draper born (28 July 2009).