John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. He was seen as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals such as Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson and developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often stormy relationship between Blair and Gordon Brown.
The Right Honourable The Lord Prescott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Official portrait, c. 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nick Clegg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy Leader of the Labour Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 21 July 1994 – 24 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Margaret Beckett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Harriet Harman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Secretary of State | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 June 2001 – 27 June 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Mandelson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by |
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| Succeeded by |
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| Member of the House of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lord Temporal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Life peerage 8 July 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull East | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 18 June 1970 – 12 April 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Harry Pursey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Karl Turner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | John Leslie Prescott 31 May 1938 Prestatyn, Flintshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Pauline Tilston (m. 1961) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Ruskin College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Hull | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born in Prestatyn, Wales, in his youth Prescott failed the eleven-plus entrance exam for grammar school and worked as a ship's steward and trade union activist. He went on to graduate from Ruskin College and the University of Hull. In the 1994 Labour Party leadership election, he stood for both the leadership and deputy leadership, winning election to the latter office. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister after Labour's victory in the 1997 election, with an expanded brief as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions until 2001 then subsequently First Secretary of State until 2007. In June 2007, he resigned as Deputy Prime Minister, coinciding with Blair's resignation as Prime Minister. Following an election within the Labour Party, he was replaced as deputy leader by Harriet Harman.
After retiring as a Member of Parliament at the 2010 general election, Prescott entered the House of Lords as a life peer with the title Baron Prescott, of Kingston upon Hull in the County of East Yorkshire. He stood as the Labour candidate in the 2012 election to be the first Police and crime commissioner for Humberside Police but lost to Conservative Party candidate Matthew Grove. Prescott resigned from the Privy Council in 2013 to protest delays to the introduction of press regulation of which he had become a proponent. In February 2015, he returned to politics as an adviser to Labour leader Ed Miliband.