‘True giant of the Labour movement’: John Prescott dies, aged 86

ITV News’ Political Correspondent Harry Horton looks back on John Prescott’s political career
John Prescott, Britain’s longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister, has died aged 86 after “living with Alzheimer’s”, his family has confirmed.
In a statement, his widow Pauline and his sons Jonathan and David Prescott said: “We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, has passed away peacefully at the age of 86.
“He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.”
Their tribute continued: “John spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment, doing so from his time as a waiter on the cruise liners to becoming Britain’s longest serving Deputy Prime Minister.
“John dearly loved his home of Hull and representing its people in Parliament for 40 years was his greatest honour.”
His family thanked those who cared for the former Hull MP after he suffered a stroke in 2019 and during his more recent illness.
They said: “We would like to thank the amazing NHS doctors and nurses who cared for him after his stroke in 2019 and the dedicated staff at the care home where he passed away after latterly living with Alzheimer’s.”
The family ended the statement saying: “As you can imagine, our family needs to process our grief so we respectfully request time and space to mourn in private. Thank you.”
A former trade union activist, Prescott served ten years as Tony Blair’s deputy prime minister following Labour’s 1997 General Election landslide.
During much of that time, he acted as a conciliator in the often turbulent relationship between Mr Blair and then-Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Blair said early on Thursday he was “devastated” by Prescott’s death and described his deputy as “one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics”.
“Although we all knew that the end was approaching and was inevitable, I am devastated by John’s passing. He was one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics; one of the most committed and loyal; and definitely the most unusual.
“There was nothing about John which fitted conventional wisdom. He was from proud traditional working class stock yet understood instinctively and completely the aspirations of that class and their desire to better themselves,” he added.
While a loyal supporter of Mr Blair in office, in the past few years Prescott, who was born in Prestatyn, north Wales, has been critical of the legacy of New Labour, especially its involvement in the Iraq War.
Writing in The Sunday Mirror in 2016, Prescott said he would live with the decision made to invade Iraq and the subsequent “catastrophic consequences” for the rest of his life.
“A day doesn’t go by when I don’t think of the decision we made to go to war. Of the British troops who gave their lives or suffered injuries for their country,” he wrote.
“Of the 175,000 civilians who died from the Pandora’s Box we opened by removing Saddam Hussein.”
He staunchly defended Jeremy Corbyn while he was Labour leader, despite criticism by other figures from the New Labour era.
Prescott, who was dubbed “two Jags” after it emerged he had two official Jaguar cars, once famously punched a protester who threw an egg at him during an election campaign visit to North Wales in 2001.
Prescott, shortly before standing down as deputy prime minister in 2007, spent eight days in hospital for pneumonia after falling ill on a train to London from his former constituency in Hull.
In 2002, it was disclosed that he was suffering from Type 2 diabetes, although it was said he was able to live a “perfectly normal life” due to medication.
Former US vice president Al Gore, who worked with Prescott on the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement in 1997, said he had “never worked with anyone in politics – on my side of the pond or his – quite like John Prescott”.
Mr Gore said in a statement: “He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them — a talent that others spend years studying and cultivating, but that was second nature to him.
“He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. I’m forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend.”
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