John Prescott, Former UK Deputy Prime Minister, Dies at 86

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He was a cruise ship waiter before rising in the trade union movement and becoming one of the country’s best-known Labour politicians under Tony Blair.

John Prescott, who rose through Britain’s trade union movement to become one of the country’s best-known politicians, serving as deputy prime minister for a decade, died on Wednesday. He was 86.

His family announced the death in a statement on social media. The statement noted that he had suffered a stroke in 2019 and had been living with Alzheimer’s disease. It did not say where he died.

Plain-speaking and proudly working class, Mr. Prescott was a visible link to Labour’s traditional origins when the party came to power in 1997 under the modernizing leadership of Tony Blair.

In government, Mr. Prescott championed environmental causes — playing a key role in international climate negotiations — and worked to shift power from London to the English regions.

More important for Labour, he helped defuse internal tensions between Mr. Blair and his chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, a rival who would become Mr. Blair’s successor. At the time, Mr. Prescott was jokingly referred to as the political equivalent of a marriage guidance counselor.

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Mr. Prescott, center, was jokingly referred to as the political equivalent of a marriage guidance counselor between the rivals Gordon Brown, left, the chancellor of the Exchequer, and Tony Blair, prime minister. Here they were at a Labour Party conference in 2006.Credit…John Stillwell/PA Images via Reuters

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