Lord Prescott dies surrounded by love and jazz music, say family

John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister and a long-time member of the Labour party, has passed away at the age of 86, according to an announcement from his family.

The former trade union leader was Sir Tony Blair's second-in-command for a decade following the Labour Party's overwhelming victory in the 1997 elections.

In a statement about his passing, Lord Prescott's wife and two sons revealed that he had been staying at a nursing facility recently due to Alzheimer’s disease.

"It is with great sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our cherished husband, father, and grandfather, John Prescott. He left us peacefully yesterday at the age of 86," they expressed.

"He completed this surrounded by the warmth of his family and the sounds of Marian Montgomery's jazz."

Throughout a career that spanned more than fifty years, Lord Prescott was elected as the Member of Parliament for Hull East in 1970 and continued to represent that constituency for nearly four decades.

Lord Prescott became a member of the shadow cabinet in 1983, taking charge of transport issues.

From 1997 to 2007, he served as an assistant to former Prime Minister Tony Blair and was granted a noble title in 2010.

His departure from the House of Commons and his step back from active politics didn’t last for too long. Just five years later, he found himself providing advice to Ed Miliband, and in 2017, he was backing Jeremy Corbyn.

Lord Prescott left the House of Lords in July this year because he hadn't been attending, having only spoken once in the chamber since he had a stroke in 2019. Official records show he hasn't voted since February 2023.

Lord Prescott hails from Prestatyn, Wales. He left school at the age of 15 and took on a role as a steward in the Merchant Navy. After that, he pursued his studies at Ruskin College in Oxford before stepping into the world of politics.

"John dedicated his life to bettering the lives of others, advocating for social justice and safeguarding the environment. He began his journey as a waiter on cruise ships and eventually became the longest-serving Deputy Prime Minister in Britain," his family shared.

John had a deep affection for his hometown of Hull, and serving its residents in Parliament for four decades was the proudest achievement of his life.

Lord Prescott tied the knot with his wife, Pauline, in 1961, and the couple welcomed two sons, David and Jonathan.

The media started calling him “two jags” when it became known that he owned two Jaguar cars. However, in 2021, he announced that he no longer had a car, declaring, “I am now Zero Jags.”

He became well-known for striking a man who hurled an egg at him during his general election campaign in Rhyl, North Wales, in 2001.

Following the emergence of photographs from the event in media outlets globally, reporters came up with the catchy nickname "two jabs" for him.

Lord Prescott stated that he acted in self-defense, and the police decided not to pursue any further action. Later surveys conducted by newspapers indicated that a majority of the public backed his response.

At the time, Sir Tony remarked, "John is just who he is."

While Lord Prescott was a devoted backer of Sir Tony during his time in power, he later expressed criticism regarding Britain's participation in the Iraq war. He stated to the BBC that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 "cannot be justified."

Many of his supporters were taken aback when he accepted a peerage in 2010, especially since he had allegedly previously stated, "I have no desire to join the House of Lords. I won't agree to it."

He justified the choice by stating that it would allow him to maintain his impact on environmental policies.

However, his most significant contributions during the Lords debates focused on criticizing the government's handling of the phone-hacking scandal.

For Lord Prescott, this issue hit close to home. His legal team claimed that the News of the World had been spying on him, and in 2012, he received financial compensation from the newspaper's parent organization, News International.

His family expressed their gratitude to the NHS doctors and nurses who treated him following his stroke in 2019, as well as to the devoted staff at the care home where he spent his final days living with Alzheimer’s.

“Our family is currently navigating our sorrow, so we kindly ask for some time and space to grieve privately.”