It has been coming for a while, but I can exclusively reveal that it will be announced tomorrow that Derek Draper will be leaving LabourList to seek "pastures new". His details were unceremoniously removed from the site last week prompting speculation about his future role following the Smeargate emails. Yesterday LabourList carried an article musing over the future of the site in a "post Draper era" as if it was an inevitability. Sources tell me that Draper will leave, but the site will continue in a new guise. It is so far unclear as to who will take over from Draper as editor or whether the focus of the site will change.
Graphic hattip: Javelin
UPDATE 22.53: The Guardian confirms my story and has Derek Draper's resignation statement.
And then there was light!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading it *since* the Draper problems. It has the core of being an interesting site.
ReplyDeleteIt's only problem is that many contributors feel they need to write essays not blog posts.
A nation mourns
ReplyDeleteIt was inevitable that that liability had to leave. Hopefully we will see less of that man and he can spent some time getting a shave and a haircut.
ReplyDeletemarcantonysjournal.blogspot.com
Good riddance.
ReplyDeletePastures new? Like Nebuchadnezzar, I hope, in Daniel 4.25:
ReplyDelete'... they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee ...'
Cherio Derek!
ReplyDeleteLets hope the Jobcentre where you will sign on is nicer than mine!
"It is so far unclear as to who will take over from Draper as editor or whether the focus of the site will change."
ReplyDeleteTRANSLATION - "Mr Iain Dale is now available for hire to the highest bidder and his CV is available from the usual email address..."
Iain, I respectfully request that you keep on this one. Labour must find a sinecure to keep him on the payroll, as he knows too much to be cast free. his actions over the next 13 months should be monitored by an insider such as yourself. I suggest that Drapers Doings could yet trigger total meltdown within the Labour Party.
ReplyDeleteDraper had to go. Labourlist would not be a credible entity if he remained.
ReplyDeleteUnite also should have nothing to do with Draper, either directly or via Labourlist.
This has to be good news for the honest, decent people associated with Labourlist.
There's a flat for rent in Maidstone, so I hear.
ReplyDeleteFailing which I've a cardboard box which he can have for nothing.
Quite frankly, where the odious creature goes is not something I'll be too bothered about.
Labour might actually start to do better in the internet bit now that he's left or will leave.
ReplyDeleteThen again, whoever is advising Gordon to do YouTube as well, needs to also think about handing in their P45....
http://www.plenty2say.com
the replacement should be Hazel Blears.
ReplyDeleteLabourlist has been renamed Unitelist.org
ReplyDeleteIt will become a union wonk blog run by Tom Miller (under the watchful eye of Charlie Whelan).
Do keep up Iain
I wonder if he will keep his "pass" much like McBride but anyhow good riddance to bad rubbish he should be on jankers imo.
ReplyDeleteHow long before Gordons Morning Tele"vision" ( GMTV :D ) have an interview with that weasel, I`m starting the timer on my mobile in fact I`m not I`m off for a bevy :)
Perhaps Derek will go to university: maybe Berkeley.
ReplyDeleteHazel Blears? She of the 'I'm not using a briefcase to put high priority government papers in'? She'd have to hire a staff to do the dirty work, I can't see her actually typing a thing. Think of the nails dear.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, I don't think this is good news.
ReplyDeleteReason being is that he was a vote winner for the Tories ... the more people saw/heard from him, the more they disliked the Labour party message.
Let's hope he's replaced with someone equally distasteful
Perhaps those awfully nice chaps over at Labourhome might want to take the rusting hulk of the former good ship Labourpissed under their wing and turn it into a real Blog?
ReplyDeleteBut the best news today is that Joanna Lumley is 'bigging up' Gordon, and tying him to a promise to 'do something for the Gurkhas' BEFORE the Euro elections, thus significantly increasing the chances that he won't be deposed before the summer recess !!
ReplyDeleteAnd then, barring any 'volte-face' by Harman in conference week, it is very likely that the Tories will be able to keep Gordon in power until the General Election..
Trebles all round !!!
But where is Dolly?
ReplyDeleteLuckily, Kate has Anton, as do their children.
The Penguin.
I'm gutted.
ReplyDeletesubrosa / bond007
ReplyDeleteMy point exactly - Hazel Blears.
They dont know what low is...yet.
It's weird and I never thought I'd get tired of Mr Draper - but today, I've discovered that I am.
ReplyDeleteHe provided endless comedy material and must personify the longest suicide note in history.
But now we have Premiership talent in Our Glorious Leader!!!
Labour, the gift that just keeps on giving.
We can breathe again!
ReplyDeleteSee the look of devastation that has just clouded my face? No? Neither do i, i only read Labourlist once, and that was when that irritating little pipsqueak was having a hissy fit over Guido not moderating the comment section on his blog. Typical New Labour censorship in action. First and last taste of it, maybe now that will change and i might have another peek now the loonie has gone.
ReplyDeletetalwin said...
ReplyDeletePerhaps Derek will go to university: maybe Berkeley.Is that in or at Berkeley?
Is he still allowed to practise psychotherapy in the UK?
What happened to the other conspirators, is it business as usual for them?
Even more devastatingly, according to one of those celeb magazines I was flicking through in the supermarket, his delightfully large breasted wife Kate Garraway (the one off ITV morning telly) doesn't want to be seen with him in public any more either.
ReplyDeleteLabour are doomed whether they have an online presence or not!
ReplyDeleteWhat surprises me is the fact it has taken about a month to shift Draper!
l be back. It seems some chap at a blog called order com or something like it has offered him a job of assistant editor.
ReplyDeleteBrown/Balls/Draper-what a team!
ReplyDeleteIt should of course be Damian McBride.
ReplyDeleteI am actually sorry to see that he has been sidelined. The puffing of Labourlist, the failed control-freakery, the spats with Dale and Guido, the car crash telly appearances and the attempts to muzzle Labourhome have been hugely entertaining. Now we will all have to be high minded again!
ReplyDeleteI tweeted his details had been removed and @ you in. Ho hum
ReplyDeleteFact is that he was still listed as a contributor until early this week - I tweeted as soon as it was removed.
Simon_G_1
Is he really gone! If you go to Labourlist, on the RHS is a column headed
ReplyDelete#LabourDoorstep. The twitter link still goes to Dolly's twitter. Amateurs.
He doesn't appear to have an article in the latest June edition of Psychologies either.
ReplyDeleteThe Government will be looking at regulating the Psychotherapy and Counsellor practices, which are currently unregulated.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Derek's qualifications are beyond reproach.
Anything with Dolly on it has got to be suspect-----whatever the Party.Why don't McBride/Balls/Draper form a media company-has a ring to it don't you think?
ReplyDeleteThis will be spun as "it was planned". Doubtless Dolly was alays going to move on to a new project once this one was up & running & could be handed over to some safe pair of hands to maintain it. Not.
ReplyDeleteThey'd be better off starting over from scratch. this way, Draper will always hang over that venture like a faint stench.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they've seen an uptick in traffic recently? I'd bet anything you like it's gawkers like me, turning up to see what the dealio might be.
In the comments over on LabourList it says
ReplyDelete2.Unite was in session today and it was agreed that we would continue to fund Labourlist as it promotes the values of our members. The minutes of this meeting ahall be available from our website in 2 months time.
So the site has never been "independent" as claimed by Draper.
They've made a song about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/Harry%20McDonough%20-%20Goodbye%20Dolly%20Gray.mp3
Have you sent your job application form in yet, Iain?
ReplyDeleteHe still has the book sales on Amazon, then again having looked at the reviews maybe not.
ReplyDeleteBye Dolly. It's been real.
ReplyDeleteDraper is in financial meltdown. LL and psychotherapy doors closed.
ReplyDeleteNuLab now unable to provide jobs for pals means he will be cast adrift.
Future prospects Nil. Much the same as the party for which he prostituted himself.
Hasn't THIS Derek suffered enough?...
ReplyDeleteWhat is GMTV ? Is a site where large breasted ladies appear? Surely Mr Timney must informed !
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have happened to a nicer fellow. Perhaps he'll use the time he suddenly finds on his hands to get an *actual* MA.
ReplyDeleteOnce there was LabourList!
ReplyDeleteNow only Nick Robinson' Blog
There is a lady called Anita Steffenberg who claims to be from Unite on Labourlist.
ReplyDeleteShe says this - maybe Derek is not going anywhere:
"We fully support Derek in his attempt to set up an alternative to the Tory blogosphere. He did not make the false accusations, McBride did. Derek is punished for being a character and Unite will stand by him and continue to support his wonderful role as editor of this great site"Having said that she has attempted writing this message 3 times, which suggests she either keeps accidentally posting half way through typing, or the official line regarding Derek is 'evolving'.
http://www.labourlist.org/labourlost-what-to-do-with-derek-drapers-labourlist#comments
Labourlist has been a lot duller since Dolly started keeping a low profile. The level of discourse is much the same. But instead of being an amusing and inconsequential car crash, its now home to a load of smug essayists who are in denial
ReplyDeleteThe Guardian statement says he is going back to his therapy gig.
ReplyDeleteIain I dare you to book an appointment with the malign toad...Now that would make a diverting blog post.
Announcement on LabourHome
ReplyDeletehttp://www.labourhome.org/story/2009/5/6/1858/96632
"Derek Draper HAS Resigned as Editor of Labour List"
Begins, "Dear All, I am emailing directly because I wanted you to know before anyone else does about developments at LabourList. ..."
Going back to his therapy gig? That's another thing. His registration and qualifications are under investigation, so how long the therapy gig can last is another matter.
ReplyDeleteWhy my wife is annoyed by Derek Draper
It appears official - Draper is no more.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/06/derek-draper-labour-list-editor
Labourlist 'could' go somewhere now, but I still suspect that since it continues to be Unite funded, that it will remain a second / third rate blog.
Guido's report on the BACP investigating Draper is at http://www.order-order.com/2009/04/dolly-is-watching-daytime-tv/ which says BACP have confirmed...
ReplyDelete"BACP has received a number of queries regarding Derek Draper to which we are responding. Any complaints received will be treated seriously and processed according to our Professional Conduct Procedures.
As soon as they are known, the outcomes of all Professional Conduct Procedures are published in our journal Therapy Today (which automatically goes out to all 30,200 BACP members) and also to the general public via our website. All such proceedings are conducted on the principles of natural justice. All parties to any complaint have a reasonable period during which to make their representations."
So Draper's "therapy gig" might not last that much longer.
I also read that Draper will be at the Mind Body Spirit festival in London doing something callled
"Life Support – A Survival Guide for the Modern Soul"
"Do you want to end the cycles that keep pulling you into pain, fear and disappointment? Would you like to make real and lasting change in your life? Award winning therapist Derek teaches you therapy tools that really work. He shares his methods to help you to gain deeper self-awareness shifting your life towards greater happiness."
"He jumped and was not pushed" he says
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha ha
How gullible does he think we are?
That's interesting, Jamie.
ReplyDeleteWhat would Derek Draper do if, whilst doing his thing at the Mind. Body, Spirit Festival, Frances Osborne turned up and demanded some therapy from him due to the evil lies that were to have been spread about her state of mental health?
Having exposed these cretins some weeks ago, and all credit to you, it is becoming very boring - quite frankly - to continue to follow their every movement. If they don't count for anything now (and I'm sure they don't), why do you continue to be fixated on them? Isn't that counter-productive? It might suggest, if you continue to focus on sad people like Draper, that you are measuring yourself against them. Aim higher please!
ReplyDeleteCan't say I was surprised, I thought you would have all read between the lines.
ReplyDelete