John Prescott, Britain’s former deputy prime minister who served under Tony Blair and helped transform the country’s Labor Party, has died at the age of 86, his family said on Thursday.
“We are very sad to tell you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away yesterday (Wednesday) at the age of 86,” it said in a statement.
Blair, a privately educated lawyer who hired working-class Prescott to help appease the Labor Party after the party moved to the center ground, said he was “devastated” at Prescott’s death. They went.
“There was no one like him in British politics,” he told BBC radio.
Keir Starmer, who became Labour’s first prime minister since 2010 after a landslide victory in the general election in July, called Prescott “a true stalwart of the Labor movement”.
He added, “He was a staunch defender of working people and a proud trade unionist. During a decade as Deputy Prime Minister, he was one of the key architects of a Labor government that transformed the lives of millions of people across the country “
“So much of John’s work paved the way for those of us who were fortunate enough to follow. From leading climate negotiations to fighting regional inequality, his legacy will live on well beyond his lifetime.”
Prescott, a former merchant seaman and trade union activist who served as Member of Parliament for Hull in northern England for four decades, died “peacefully” in a care home, his wife Pauline and two sons said.
He said, “He did this amidst the love of his family and the jazz music of Marion Montgomery.”
Prescott, appointed to the House of Lords, suffered a stroke in 2019 and was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Due to his health problems, he ceased to be a member of the upper house of parliament in July.
To be precise, Prescott served as Blair’s deputy for 10 years following Labour’s landslide victory in the 1997 general election. During a campaign in North Wales he punched a protestor who threw an egg at him.
But he also acted as a mediator between Blair and his finance minister, Gordon Brown, who had also led Labour’s transition in the 1990s and who had plans to take power.
Prescott’s brief included leading negotiations on behalf of the UK for the international Kyoto Protocol on environment and transport as well as climate change.
Blair said in a letter to Prescott in 2007 that he saw his role as “calming down colleagues and sorting out and problem-solving.”
He told him, “Prescott’s absolutely unique blend of charm and cruelty… keeps you going throughout the decade, keeps the government together and, above all, gives me great pleasure. I was lucky to have you as my deputy.”
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