- Ex-Labour deputy PM John Prescott dies aged 86
- Died on Wednesday at care home, he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease
- Prescott served under the Tony Blair government between 1997 and 2007
Ex-Labour deputy PM John Prescott dies aged 86
John Prescott, former Labour deputy prime minister has died at the age of 86, his family have confirmed.
They said he died peacefully on Wednesday to the sound of jazz music at his care home, where he had been living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Prescott served under the Tony Blair government between 1997 and 2007.
He was credited with a number of successes, including helping to negotiate the international Kyoto Protocol on climate change and creating regional development councils as well as reforms to the transport system.
East Hull MP Karl Turner has released a statement on Prescott’s death. Turner has known Prescott all of his life, he said, and knows “first-hand the impact that he had on many thousands of people across the city and the country.”
Blair has paid tribute to his former deputy saying he is “devastated” to learn of his death and described him as “one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics.”