Draper made headlines in March 2020 when he contracted COVID-19 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and became seriously ill with an exceptionally serious case of long COVID; he was hospitalised for over a year and continued to require round-the-clock care upon release.
Livingstone was reportedly astonished to find a large poster of Labour's deputy leader Roy Hattersley displayed in Draper's student room.
[4] 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.
[5] Seen as a close ally of Mandelson, and as an insider in the New Labour project, he was viewed by political journalists as well-connected, influential, colourful and gregarious, and was nicknamed "Dolly" in Westminster circles.
"[13] After leaving politics, Draper retrained as a psychotherapist, obtaining an MA in clinical psychology after what he described as "three years in Berkeley, California".
While in Berkeley, he worked as "the development director of a community counselling centre"; later, he claimed to have entered "private practice in Marylebone, London".
[14] He subsequently clarified that he had studied at the Wright Institute of California, a graduate school in the town of Berkeley, founded by Nevitt Sanford.
)[15] 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".
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in the light of all the evidence and the commitments of Mr Draper, that his membership of this Association would not be withdrawn.
[22] 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 in the blogosphere.
[24] 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 or prominent members of the Conservative Party and their spouses.
[27] Gordon Brown sent personal letters to those who had been mentioned in the emails,[28] expressing his regret over the incident,[29] but Conservative politicians called for him to make a public apology.
[39] Draper returned home on a trial basis in April 2021; the following month, Garraway gave an update, saying that he was still devastated by COVID-19 and immobile.
[42] That month, she won a National Television Award for her ITV documentary Finding Derek, which chronicled his experiences with long COVID and the effects on their family.
[45] Garraway revealed in April 2022 that Draper was struggling to speak and that "he can understand, sometimes do odd words, but can't express himself".
[44] Draper died on the night of 3 January 2024 at a north London hospital,[48][49][50][51] from COVID-19 complications, at the age of 56, almost four years after he first contracted the disease.
Among the attendees were former prime minister Tony Blair, Labour leader Keir Starmer, Elton John, Myleene Klass, Fiona Phillips, and former Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan.