{"id":60038,"date":"2024-11-21T16:04:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T16:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/former-uk-deputy-pm-john-prescott-dies-at-86\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T16:04:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T16:04:51","slug":"former-uk-deputy-pm-john-prescott-dies-at-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/former-uk-deputy-pm-john-prescott-dies-at-86\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UK deputy PM John Prescott dies at 86"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

John Prescott, Britain\u2019s former Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair and a key figure in transforming the Labour Party, has died at the age of 86, his family announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father, and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away yesterday (Wednesday) at the age of 86,\u201d the family\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n

Prescott served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007 during Blair\u2019s transformative Labour government, which delivered a landslide election victory in 1997.<\/p>\n

A working-class politician and former trade union activist, Prescott balanced Blair\u2019s centrist policies by representing Labour\u2019s traditional left-wing base.<\/p>\n

Blair expressed his grief, calling Prescott \u201cirreplaceable\u201d and a unique presence in British politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no one quite like him,\u201d Blair said, noting Prescott\u2019s critical role in keeping the Labour government cohesive.<\/p>\n

Prescott was a prominent figure in global climate diplomacy, leading the UK\u2019s negotiations for the landmark 1997 Kyoto Protocol on climate change.<\/p>\n

Former US Vice President Al Gore paid tribute to Prescott as a \u201cdear friend\u201d and \u201cunwavering champion of climate action,\u201d stating his role in shaping global environmental policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and continued to champion climate action for decades,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer, the current Labour Prime Minister, called Prescott a \u201ctrue giant of the Labour movement,\u201d praising his legacy in tackling regional inequality and environmental issues.<\/p>\n

Gordon Brown, who succeeded Blair, described Prescott as a \u201ccolossus\u201d and credited him with elevating environmental concerns in government policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was probably the first government minister to see the importance of the environment, and the 1997 Kyoto agreement is a testament to his hard work,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Prescott, a former merchant seaman, represented Hull in northern England as a Member of Parliament for 40 years. Known for his plain-speaking and fiery personality, he once famously punched a protester who threw an egg at him during a campaign stop in Wales.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Prescott suffered a stroke in 2019 and battled Alzheimer\u2019s disease. He passed away peacefully in a care home surrounded by his family and jazz music, according to his wife Pauline and their two sons.<\/p>\n

Prescott was appointed to the House of Lords after leaving Parliament but stepped back from his duties in July due to his declining health.<\/p>\n

As Blair once remarked in a letter to Prescott, his \u201cunique blend of charm and brutality\u201d was instrumental in keeping the government together and delivering for the nation.<\/p>\n

Former UK deputy PM John Prescott dies at 86<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Prescott, Britain\u2019s former Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair and a key figure in transforming the Labour Party, has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26155,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-john-prescott","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigerdeltanews.ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}