His family said he died peacefully on Wednesday to the sound of jazz music at his care home, where he had been living with Alzheimer’s
Tony Blair says he’s devastated, telling the BBC there was “no-one quite like him in British politics”, and recalling the moment he punched someone in the 2001 election campaign
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls him a “true giant of the Labour movement”
The former trade union activist served in Blair’s government for 10 years, and held his Kingston upon Hull East seat in Parliament for almost 40 years
Prescott served as deputy prime minister for more than a decade under Blair, and was seen as a custodian of the Labour party’s traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership.
John Prescott: ‘I’ve only ever been in two or three fights’
He acted as a mediator in the often turbulent relationship between Blair and Brown, and oversaw government policy on the environment, transport and the regions, helping to negotiate the international Kyoto protocol on climate change.
