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Former British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has died at the age of 86, his family announced Thursday morning.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86,” his family wrote in a post on his X profile.
Prescott served as Deputy Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007 and was a key figure in Tony Blair’s New Labor project.
A former seaman who left school at 15, Prescott spent 27 years as an MP before joining the cabinet in 1997 after Blair’s landslide election victory.
Prescott sold New Labor to the conservative wing of the party and his campaign played a significant role in his 1997 victory as well as his re-election in 2001 and 2005.
Prescott himself was proud of his part in creating the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
He is survived by his wife, Pauline, and two sons, Jonathan and David.
