LONDON โ British politician John Prescott, a pugnacious and personable former merchant seaman who rose to the post of deputy prime minister in Tony Blair's Labour government, has died at age 86.
Prescottโs family announced his death on Thursday. They said the politician, who had been suffering from Alzheimerโs disease, died in a care home on Wednesday โsurrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.โ
Recommended Videos
The family said Prescott had โspent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment.โ
For a decade, Prescott brought grit, humor and working-class authenticity to the government of the young, polished Blair, who became prime minister in 1997.
โHe was one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics, one of the most committed and loyal, and definitely the most unusual,โ Blair said.
King Charles III said he was saddened to hear of Prescott's death.
โI remember with great fondness his unique and indomitable character, as well as his infectious sense of humor,โ the king said.
An amateur boxer in his youth, Prescott had a defining moment when he punched a man who threw an egg at him during the 2001 general election.
The uproar briefly looked like it might harm the Labour Party, and Prescottโs career. But Blairโs response -โ โJohn is Johnโ -โ cemented his folksy status.
โMany of us, all across the country, and the public, were very much on his side during that altercation,โ said opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch. She called Prescott a โtitan of British politics" and โone of this countryโs greatest examples of social mobility.โ
Born in north Wales in 1938, Prescott left school at the age of 15 and worked as a cruise ship steward before entering politics through the trade union movement โ a once-common route that became less frequent after Blair rebranded the left-leaning party โNew Labourโ and shifted its politics toward the center,
Prescott was a proud working-class figure in a country that still has few from that background at the top of politics. He unapologetically liked the finer things in life and was nicknamed โTwo Jagsโ by the press because he had two Jaguar luxury cars.
The egg-thrower punching incident earned him another nickname: โTwo Jabs."
Prescott served as Blairโs deputy between 1997 and 2007. One of his proudest achievements was working with then-U.S. Vice President Al Gore on the landmark Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement in 1997.
Gore said he had โnever worked with anyone in politics โ on my side of the pond or his โ quite like John Prescott.โ
โHe fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. Iโm forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend,โ Gore said in a statement.
Prescott helped ease the sometimes tense relationship between Blair and his Treasury chief, Gordon Brown, and acted as a bridge between the partyโs traditionalists and Blairโs modernizing faction. Brown said he was key to keeping the party united after Blairโs controversial decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Former Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson, a Blair ally, said Prescott was โthe cement that kept New Labour together.โ
Prescott represented his home city of Hull in northern England for four decades. After Labour lost power in 2010 he was made a member of Parliamentโs unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords.
Brown, who succeeded Blair as prime minister, described Prescott as a true working-class hero.
โHe wanted the good things in life for everyone and not just himself,โ Brown said. โAnd he showed that Britain can be a country where if you work hard you can fill your potential.โ
He is survived by his wife Pauline and sons Johnathan and David.