Former UK deputy prime minister John Prescott dies at 86

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Lord John Prescott, the former UK deputy prime minister, has died aged 86, his family said on Thursday.

“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86,” his family wrote in a post on his X profile.

Prescott served as deputy prime minister between 1997 and 2007 and was a key figure in Sir Tony Blair’s New Labour project.

A former seaman who left school aged 15, Prescott spent 27 years as an MP before joining the cabinet after Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997.

Prescott sold New Labour to the party’s traditionalist wing and his campaigning played a sizeable part in the 1997 victory as well as its re-election in 2001 and 2005.

After Labour swept to power in 1997, the Hull East MP was a genuine working-class voice in a cabinet full of middle-class graduates. 

He was put in charge of a new super-ministry of the environment, transport and the regions. From there he was involved in policy changes including the establishment of the London mayoralty and the regional development agencies. 

Blair told the BBC he was “devastated” by the death of Prescott, saying he had a “huge genuine affection” for him.

“He obviously came from a completely different background from me. He reached parts of the Labour party, parts of the electorate that probably I couldn’t reach,” Blair said.

The former prime minister recalled the moment at the start of the 2001 general election campaign when a burly farmer threw an egg at Prescott during a walkabout in Rhyl, north Wales. 

In an instant, Prescott had turned, planting a left-hand jab on the man’s face before the pair entered an undignified scuffle. Afterwards Blair laughed it off, saying “John is John”. 

“He was highly, highly intelligent . . . people used to make fun of his speeches and his use of the English language, but he was an incredibly direct communicator,” Blair said.

Sir Keir Starmer, prime minister, said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of Prescott’s death.

“John was a true giant of the Labour movement,” he said. “On behalf of the Labour party, I send my condolences to Pauline and his family, to the city of Hull, and to all those who knew and loved him.”

Prescott himself was proudest of his part in framing the 1997 Kyoto protocol on global warming.

He also played a significant political role as mediator when Blair was barely on speaking terms with his chancellor, Gordon Brown, who had long-standing ambitions for the leadership. 

He is survived by his wife, Pauline, and two sons, Johnathan and David.