Tony Blair leads tributes to ‘incredibly direct’ deputy, known for not pulling his punches – on one occasion, literally. Britain’s former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has died following a battle with Alzheimer’s, his family announced. Prescott, an ex-merchant seaman who became a key figure in Tony Blair’s New Labour government, died “peacefully” in a care home at the age of 86, his family said on Thursday.
Blair, prime minister between 1997 and 2007, led tributes to his former deputy, calling him an “incredibly direct communicator” and adding that there was “no one quite like him in British politics”. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Blair said Prescott, known for his gritty, no-nonsense style brand of politics, had a “fantastic gut instinct ” and that he held a “huge, genuine affection for him”. Prescott, a prominent trade unionist proud of his working-class roots, was viewed by many as a bridge between Labour Party traditionalists and Blair’s revamped New Labour, which promoted a “Third Way” between centre-left social policy and centre-right capitalism.
Prescott, who was frequently lampooned by the media for mispronouncing words or making grammatical mistakes – a trait that many said belied his fierce intellect – was nicknamed “Two Jags” for having two luxury Jaguar cars: one personal, one for ministerial duties. Criticised for using the ministerial car for a 180-metre (200-yard) journey back to his hotel at the 1.