John Prescott's career highs and lows as the former deputy prime minister dies aged 86

Prescott’s household shared the quality aboriginal connected Thursday morning, announcing that the erstwhile Labour person died “peacefully” astatine his attraction location surrounded by relatives. Leaving down a woman and 2 children, his household revealed that helium had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who Prescott sat underneath arsenic Deputy for a decade, has led tributes, saying helium was “devastated” by quality of his death. “It is nary exaggeration to accidental the Labour enactment could ne'er person won 3 consecutive afloat presumption without John,” Mr Blair said, calling Prescott - who became a Lord successful 2010 - “one of the astir talented radical I ever encountered successful politics”.

Prescott, who was an MP for Kingston upon Hull East for 40 years, suffered from a fig of wellness conditions passim his life: successful 1990, helium was diagnosed with diabetes; successful 2007 helium had a bout of pneumonia; helium suffered from bulimia for implicit 20 years, and successful 2019, helium had a stroke.

As tributes to the Labour figure determination in, let’s instrumentality a look astatine the ups and downs of Prescott’s agelong career.

Born successful Wales to working-class parents, Prescott worked arsenic a cook and past a vessel steward connected rider liners earlier achieving a diploma successful economics and authorities successful the 60s.

During his clip successful the Merchant Navy, helium worked connected a New Zealand-bound cruise successful 1957, wherever erstwhile Conservative Prime Minister Anthony Eden was among the guests. Calling Eden a “real gentleman”, Prescott served the premier curate passim the trip. While connected committee the Cunard liner, Prescott won an on-board boxing tourney (a hobby helium picked up successful schoolhouse which would beryllium useful aboriginal connected successful his career).

Before being elected arsenic an MP successful 1970, helium was an progressive fig successful the merchant sailor strikes and became an authoritative for the National Union of Seamen.

Upon becoming a frontbench spokesperson for the Labour Party successful the precocious 70s, helium rapidly became a salient dependable successful the party, particularly erstwhile it came to transport. During his aboriginal governmental career, Prescott ran for lawman enactment of the state doubly - but mislaid to Roy Hattersley successful 1988 and and Margaret Beckett successful 1992.

One of the astir notable moments from his aboriginal vocation came successful 1983, erstwhile then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was facing backlash for a argumentation that allowed atomic discarded to beryllium dumped into the sea. Unions and Greenpeace turned to Prescott, who, to publically reason the policy, swam for 2 miles down the River Thames. “It made a large bid of photos,” helium aboriginal wrote successful his autobiography. “But of course, I had a precise superior purpose.”

By the clip Tony Blair became person of the Labour Party pursuing the decease of John Smith successful 1994, an outspoken Prescott was first-pick to go his lawman leader, aboriginal becoming the lawman premier curate erstwhile Blair won the 1997 wide predetermination successful a landslide victory.

With his feet firmly planted successful his working-class roots, Prescott became an indispensable nexus betwixt Old Labour voters and the government’s New Labour stance. One of his astir pivotal moments aboriginal connected was his dense engagement successful the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark planetary statement formed successful 1997 that called to trim c dioxide emissions to 5.2 per cent to combat clime change.

Prescott worked tirelessly successful negotiations alongside figures similar then-US Vice President Al Gore, who said: “I’ve ne'er worked with anyone successful politics- connected my broadside of the pond oregon his - rather similar John Prescott.” In 2018, Prescott told The Guardian that helium considered the statement the top accomplishment successful his career.

As good arsenic the Kyoto Agreement, the person importantly contributed to empowering section communities, driving the instauration of determination improvement councils frankincense allowing section governments to go much self-sufficient economically. He was besides a staunch advocator for transforming the UK’s transport system, powerfully opposing the privatisation of the UK’s transport services and adjacent openly disagreeing with the party’s stance connected obstruction regulation.

On the nighttime of the 1998 Brit Awards, Prescott unexpectedly made headlines implicit the likes of performers the Spice Girls, Fleetwood Mac and All Saints aft Chumbawamba vocalist Danbert Nobacon dumped a bucket of crystal implicit his head.

Why? Nobacon pulled the stunt successful solidarity with dock workers successful Liverpool who had been progressive successful a years-long concern dispute. Many were aggravated with the authorities - peculiarly Prescott, who has agelong been a protagonist of unions - for not aiding the extremity of the quality oregon reversing anti-trade national authorities brought guardant by the erstwhile Conservative government. Speaking with NME earlier this year, the band’s frontman Dunstan Bruce said the crushed wherefore the stunt was pulled was due to the fact that Prescott “could person resolved that quality and helium refused to, adjacent though it was a national helium utilized to beryllium a portion of”. In a connection pursuing the incident, Prescott’s bureau called the stunt “utterly contemptible”.

At a 2001 wide predetermination run rally successful Rhyl, Wales, a protestor - opposing Labour’s enactment of a fox-hunting prohibition - threw an ovum successful Prescott’s face. Prescott’s boxing acquisition came successful useful erstwhile helium retailed by famously punching Craig Evans repeatedly (calling it an enactment of self-defence) which was caught connected camera. Although immoderate thought this would beryllium damaging to Prescott’s nationalist image, sentiment polls by the likes of Sky News recovered that the nationalist - particularly the working-class nationalist - supported Prescott’s reaction.

Previously earning the nickname ‘Two Jags’ by the property for his emotion of Jaguar cars, the property rapidly nicknamed Prescott ‘Two Jabs’ aft the incident. In July of that year, helium was fixed the honorific rubric of First Secretary of State by Tony Blair.

During the second portion of his clip arsenic Deputy Prime Minister successful the 2000s, Prescott was credited with being a utile mediator amid the turbulent narration betwixt PM Blair and then-Chancellor Gordon Brown, which was mostly down to Brown’s vexation towards Blair for not relinquishing power.

But this period, particularly 2006, was not a large clip to beryllium John Prescott. In April, the Mail connected Sunday reported that helium had engaged successful a two-year-long matter betwixt 2002 and 2004 with his diary secretary, Tracey Temple, who was 24 years his junior. Speaking with the newspaper, who paid her £250,000 for her story, Temple said the brace had enactment successful Prescott’s Whitehall bureau during meetings and successful a edifice country portion his woman Pauline was downstairs.

Prescott admitted to the affair, telling the Mirror astatine the clip that his woman was “devasted”. While the mates worked done the scandal, it had immense implications for his governmental career. At that year’s Labour Party conference, helium announced that helium was stepping down from his lawman presumption amid the uproar.

“I cognize that successful the past year, I fto myself down, I fto you down. So conference, I conscionable privation to accidental sorry,” helium said.

In a furniture reshuffle that May, Prescott mislaid his departmental responsibilities owed to the matter and the party’s caller mediocre show successful section elections.

They accidental that atrocious things hap successful threes, which was the lawsuit for Prescott erstwhile helium gave up Doneywood, the 18th-century grace-and-favour state location helium lived in. It came arsenic helium was pictured playing croquet connected the property’s tract portion Blair was connected a sojourn to Washington, which resulted successful the property mocking him due to the fact that of the game’s precocious nine associations, a acold outcry from Prescott’s humble beginnings.

After Blair announced that helium was resigning successful May 2007, Prescott rapidly followed suit, going connected to basal down arsenic an MP astatine the adjacent wide election.

Prescott’s autobiography, Prezza: My Story: Pulling No Punches, was released a twelvemonth later, and successful it came a shocking revelation regarding the erstwhile lawman PM’s health. In the book, Prescott revealed that helium had suffered from bulimia nervosa for astir 20 years, which helium believed was brought connected by the accent of beingness successful politics. “People usually subordinate it with young women - anorexic girls, models trying to support their value down, oregon women successful stressful situations, similar Princess Diana,” helium wrote. He won praise for speaking of his information publicly, particularly for raising consciousness that men besides endure from the condition.

Then, successful 2010, Prescott was awarded a beingness peerage (despite antecedently saying helium would not judge one). Defending his acceptance of the title, helium said astatine the clip that it would let him to power biology policy.

Prescott dabbled successful authorities passim the 2010s. In 2012, helium stood arsenic the Labour campaigner to go Humberside Police’s archetypal Police and Crime Commissioner, however, helium mislaid retired to Conservative rival Matthew Grove. Then 3 years later, helium worked arsenic an advisor to Ed Milliband during the erstwhile absorption leader’s unsuccessful predetermination campaign.

Over a decennary later, Prescott ceased to beryllium a subordinate of the House of Lords successful July 2024. Prescott had spoken lone erstwhile successful the enclosure since suffering a changeable successful 2019 and had not voted since February 2023. His departure was confirmed alongside different peers who ceased rank for akin reasons.