John Prescott dead: Former Deputy Prime Minister dies aged 86 after battle with Alzheimer’s as his wife pays tribute

By Trevor Kavanagh

JOHN Prescott, a former Cunard Line waiter who rose to be deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair, was the last authentic voice of the working classes to serve in high office.

The MP for Hull, known as The Mouth of The Humber, spoke for the trade unions in a New Labour government which finally broke their stranglehold over economic and industrial policy.

As deputy leader of the Labour Party, he also refereed the infamous
“TeeBee-GeeBees” flare-ups between Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown during their battle for the Labour crown.

Burly “Prezza”, a prize-winning boxer, was a bruiser both inside and outside Parliament.

In the 2001 election campaign, he was hit in the face by an egg thrown by a protestor.

Prescott, a man with a hair-trigger temper, landed a powerful left jab before police intervened.

“There was only one punch,” he explained afterwards. “Tony Blair rang and asked what happened.

“I said: ‘You told us to connect with the electorate, so I did’.”

Lord Prescott, who has died aged 86, was proud of his working-class roots and as a blunt-speaking Northerner.

But he was born in Prestatyn and regarded himself as a Welshman.

In later life he admitted carrying a chip on his shoulder after his brother Ray was rewarded with a new bike for passing his 11-plus to a grammar school.

John failed and got nothing.

What he saw as a gross injustice fuelled a lifelong resentment towards elitism – even within his own party – and an insecurity which drove him close to the top of the political greasy pole.

He was deeply hurt that in 10 years as deputy PM, he and his glamorous wife, Pauline – an Elizabeth Taylor lookalike – were never invited to dinner at Chequers, the PM’s official home.

Prescott blamed Blair’s “snobbish” wife, Cherie.

“We never got close to the Blairs,” he said. “It just didn’t happen. We were not their set. Certainly we were not her set.”

The former ship’s steward was mocked by toffee-nosed Tories such as
Nicholas Soames who greeted him in the Commons, crying: “Mine’s a gin-and-tonic, Giovanni.”

And he was teased for mangling the English language, once complaining “the sceptre of unemployment stalking the north-east”.

As Environment supremo, he boasted: “The Green Belt is a Labour
achievement – and we mean to build on it.”

But the son of a railway signaller was no fool.

He studied economics and politics at Ruskin College, Oxford, and scored a BSc degree at Hull University.

He enjoyed his success, living in a turreted mock-Tudor mansion and playing croquet on the lawns of his official home, Dorneywood.

An avowed socialist, he earned his “Two Jags” nickname by driving an XJ6 Jaguar and using a chauffeur-driven XJ8 for government business.

“My roots, my background, the way I act is working class, but it would by hypocritical to say I’m anything other than middle class now,” he admitted.

John Prescott’s remarkable political career crumbled dramatically in 2006 when his two-year love affair with bubbly secretary Tracey Temple was exposed after her jealous lover read her diary.

Tracey, who sold her story to a Sunday newspaper for £250,000, described “groping and kissing” in the Deputy PM’s office and his opulent grace-and-favour Admiralty office flat.

“We were very lucky we were never caught – as we never shut the door,” noted Tracey, played by Maxine Peake in “Confessions of a Diary Secretary”.

“When I went into his office for diary meetings, if I was wearing a skirt he would slide his hand up my leg, under it.

“He used to stroke my back. And, yes, I did give him sex in the office a
couple of times.

“I knew what we were doing was risky but we both got carried away.

“Seven civil servants worked right outside his office. Of course there were moments when I thought, I shouldn’t be doing this.

“I also thought how surprised and shocked people would be if this ever got out.”

Prezza resigned as deputy Labour leader telling the 2006 party conference: “I know I let myself down. I let you down.

“So conference, I apologise.”

Nine years later he returned to front-line politics as unpaid adviser to Ed Miliband on climate change.

Prescott suffered a stroke while campaigning for Mr Corbyn at the 2019 election and retired from politics.

By Jack Elsom, Chief Political Correspondent

WHEN people think of John Prescott, many will immediately recall that immortal moment in 2001 when he punched a protester in the face.

During a fraught campaign visit, a farmer had smashed an egg over his head, prompting the then-Deputy PM to catch him with a neat left jab.

When Tony Blair was asked about the scuffle later that day, he replied simply: “John is John.”

The PM was not referring to Prescott’s impressive youth boxing career, but rather his reputation as a political bruiser.

During his 40 years as a Labour MP, Prescott was a blunt instrument who was frank and direct in his manner.

He did not have the eloquence many of his political sparring partners possessed – but he was fierce in his attacks on Tory foes.

It was his connection with the working class movement that made him valuable to Blair and Gordon Brown – his backing was crucial to getting sceptics on board with New Labour’s modernisation project.

And he served as the bridge between Blair and Brown when their relationship soured in government.

He cut his teeth in the union movement working as a steward aboard cruise ships, before becoming a full time union official.

From 1970-2010, he was the MP for Kingston, including the 10 years he spent as Deputy PM between 1997-2007.

As Blair’s technical No2, he was in charge of the country when the PM holidayed in the summer.

It brought added scrutiny, especially when he was once pictures in his grace-and-favour home of Dorneywood playing croquet.

Prescott was never far from the news, particularly when it emerged that he had the use of two Jaguars – leading to his memorable nickname “Two Jags”.

His private life also became public following his two-year affair with his diary secretary, though he stayed with his loving wife Pauline until the end.

He famously said it was for Pauline that he accepted a life peerage, despite having previously campaigned to abolish the House of Lords.

But for all the circus that seemed to follow him, Blair still credits Prescott with “keeping the show on the road” during his term.

He quite possibly owes the former ship steward with serving him up 10 years in Downing Street.

Dementia – the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s – comes on slowly over time.

As the disease progresses, symptoms can become more severe. 

But at the beginning, the symptoms can be subtle or mistaken for normal memory issues related to ageing.

The US National Institute on Aging gives some examples of what is considered normal forgetfulness in old age, and dementia disease.

You can refer to these above.

For example, it is normal for an ageing person to forget which word to use from time-to-time, but difficulting having conversation would be more indicative of dementia.

Katie Puckering, Head of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Information Services team, previously told The Sun: “We quite commonly as humans put our car keys somewhere out of the ordinary and it takes longer for us to find them.

“As you get older, it takes longer for you to recall, or you really have to think; What was I doing? Where was I? What distracted me? Was it that I had to let the dog out? And then you find the keys by the back door.

“That process of retrieving the information is just a bit slower in people as they age.

“In dementia, someone may not be able to recall that information and what they did when they came into the house.

“What may also happen is they might put it somewhere it really doesn’t belong. For example, rather than putting the milk back in the fridge, they put the kettle in the fridge.”