LONDON (AP) — British politician John Prescott, a pugnacious and personable former merchant seaman who rose to the post of deputy prime minister in Tony Blair’s Labour government, has died at age 86. Prescott’s family announced his death on Thursday. They said the politician, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died in a care home on Wednesday “surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.
” The family said Prescott had “spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment.” For a decade, Prescott brought grit, humor and working-class authenticity to the government of the young, polished Blair, who became prime minister in 1997. “He was one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics, one of the most committed and loyal, and definitely the most unusual,” Blair said.
An amateur boxer in his youth, Prescott had a defining moment when he punched a man who threw an egg at him during the 2001 general election. The uproar briefly looked like it might harm the Labour Party, and Prescott’s career. But Blair’s response -– “John is John” -– cemented his folksy status.
Born in north Wales in 1938, Prescott left school at the age of 15 and worked as a cruise ship steward before entering politics through the trade union movement — a once-common route that became less frequent after Blair rebranded the left-leaning party “New Labour” a.
