Derek Draper is planning a return to the political scene, launching his own political book publishing company just before the Labour Party conference.

The former editor of Labour List, forced to resign after the Damian McBride email scandal, has already sent his first book to the printers.

Derek Draper has a long history with the Labour Party, having worked as a researcher for Peter Mandelson and set up the New Labour group Progress. In 1998 he was caught on tape boasting to the undercover journalist Greg Palast that he could arrange access to government ministers.

After resigning as editor of Labour List in 2009, then taken over by Alex Smith and later Mark Ferguson, Draper retrained as a psychotherapist.

However, sources say Draper will keep a low profile this time around and avoid interviews.

His publishing venture – called Ruskin Books – will publish its first book later this month. It will be authored by the freelance journalist Rowenna Davis.

The book will look at whether ‘Blue Labour’ has anything to offer the party. Davis published a blog post recently saying:

The aim is to tell the story of the idea. How Blue Labour came about, where it’s going and what it could mean for the Labour party and the country. The book will not aim to advocate or denigrate Blue Labour ideas, but to explain them.

Sources told Liberal Conspiracy that the Guardian newspaper had bought serialisation rights. A foreword to the book is written the Independent’s Steve Richards.

Reader comments

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