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John Prescott dies aged 86: Keir Starmer joins Tony Blair in tribute to Labor ‘giant’ John Prescott
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John Prescott dies aged 86: Keir Starmer joins Tony Blair in tribute to Labor ‘giant’ John Prescott

Prescott’s tributes reflect his influence and power in governmentpublished at 09:37 Greenwich Mean Time

Henry Zeffman
chief political correspondent

Prescott gives a speech at the Labor Party conference in Brighton in 2000. He is in a black suit, red/black patterned tie and white suit, a lectern and microphone in front of him. He has his left hand raised, the background is blurredimage source, PA Media

In 2019, John Prescott told The Guardian: “When I die, after 50 years in politics, all they’ll show on the news is 60 seconds of me punching a guy in Wales.”

Tributes pouring in this morning show he was wrong about that.

The recurring theme in all the reminiscences is that Prescott was a far more influential and powerful force than some may appreciate.

In the early years of the Blair government, in addition to being Blair’s number two, Prescott was secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions, holding responsibilities that are currently shared between four cabinet ministers.

Tributes also focus on how critical Prescott’s union, the working-class backdrop to New Labour’s appeal, was at the same time as Blair and Brown sought to win over middle-class voters who may not have taken consider the party ahead.

At several crucial moments, Prescott used his credentials to the advantage of the modernizers. In particular, he supported Blair’s decision in 1995 to rewrite clause 4 (the statement of principles and aims of the Labor Party).

Perhaps Prescott came to the aid of Blair’s predecessor John Smith in 1993, delivering a blistering speech championing a move to weaken the role of unions in selecting Labour’s parliamentary candidates.

This paved the way for Prescott to win the deputy leadership the following year and become a major figure in Labor and British history.