John Prescott was 'man of the people'

Tributes have been paid to former Deputy Prime Minister Lord John Prescott following his death, aged 86.

The Labour veteran was first elected as MP for Hull East in 1970 and went on to hold the seat for almost 40 years.

The BBC's political editor for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Tim Iredale, described Prescott as a "man of the people".

Karl Turner, the Labour MP for East Hull, said his contribution to public life would never be forgotten.

Turner added: "Having known John for all of my life, I know first-hand the impact that he had on many thousands of people across the city and the country."

He told BBC Radio Humberside that when he was younger his family and Prescott's would often holiday together.

During one trip to Alton Towers, Turner said: "John was desperate to get on the log flume and make sure all of us got soaking wet through."

However, he added that while he was "a giant of a politician", he was a "gentle giant" on a personal level.

"He was very kind – incredibly generous and he went out of his way to make people feel important."

• Live updates as tributes are paid to John Prescott

Even after Prescott famously punched a man who had thrown an egg at him while on the campaign trail in North Wales in 2001, Iredale said the public understood it was a human reaction.

He said: "I always thought he was indestructible – one of those people you thought would just go on forever.

"For most of the years I’ve been covering politics he was always there in the background – this big beast - the biggest of big beasts.

"If he were to write his own legacy, he was talking about climate change long before mainstream politicians.

"He was also part of the movement that changed the Labour party.

"Along with Tony Blair, who was the face and the polish of the new Labour movement, John Prescott was the authentic Labour voice."

Iredale added Prescott had always been approachable, even if people might not have liked what he had to say.

Prescott was dubbed "two Jags" in the press after it emerged he had two official Jaguar cars and he would often be seen driving around Hull in one of them.

He had also insisted on taking any visiting dignitaries to his favourite Chinese restaurant - Mr Chu’s, Iredale said.

According to a newspaper report, Prescott once sparked a diplomatic incident after saying a lavish state dinner laid on in China "wasn't as good" as Mr Chu's.

Melanie Onn, MP for Great Grimbsy and Cleethorpes, said Prescott had helped with her campaign in 2017.

Posting on X, she wrote: "After, he entertained locals at The Trawl downing a pint in one, spilling most down his shirt then having to dry off in the gents.

"Sharp as a tack, oft underestimated. We’ll miss him."

Prescott was a fan of rugby league side Hull Kingston Rovers and sat on the board between 2006-2010.

He was a friend of club chairman and founder of the Sewell Group, Paul Sewell.

Mr Sewell said: "He was so credible because he'd not come straight from university into politics, he'd had a proper job."

He said Prescott had shared the stage with the likes of Bill Clinton and Al Gore, as well as "being mates with Nelson Mandela".

"This guy was John while he was in Hull, but when he was in Westminster he was a world figure, and we just have to reconcile that," he said.

Mr Sewell said Prescott had done an enormous amount for the city of Hull, including securing investment for the Preston Road community regeneration scheme.

"He turned up at one of the design meetings with the architect Richard Rogers, who had worked on the Millennium Dome and the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and said 'I've brought the most famous architect I know'."

"I replied 'John, he is the most famous architect anyone knows'.

"Politicians get a bad rap, but most come into public life to make a difference, and John Prescott did that big style.

The club's owner Neil Hudgell added: "We will miss his fantastic humour and stories of his run-ins with various world leaders that entertained us all so much in the boardroom on gameday.

"Our thoughts are with his wife Pauline, two boys Jonathan and David and all his family and friends."

The leader of the Labour Group on Hull City Council, councillor Daren Hale, said: “John was an absolute giant, who adored his adopted city, which he served with such distinction.

“Even after his 40 years as MP for Hull East, John participated fully in local life, and we feel personally privileged that he still found time to pop into the Guildhall to see us.

“He is a local, national and international political legend and will be so sadly missed."

As a tribute, the council said the Guildhall flag would be flying at half-mast.

David Davis, Conservative MP for the neighbouring constituency of Goole and Pocklington, said: “Britain has lost another great man.

“We were in political battle a lot of the time, but he didn’t take that personally,” he said.

"In fact, he told his biographer I was the only Tory he took seriously – and that’s because I’m working class.

“But he also knew when to cooperate as well as fight, and that’s a skill not all of our modern politicians have.

“I will miss him.”

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson told BBC Breakfast a lot of Prescott's work "was hard slog", and that his achievements had gone "largely under the radar".

Johnson said his close friend had been "very intelligent and very dedicated".

Commenting on the egg incident, he added: "In a sense it displays his authenticity.

"John had it in spades and probably didn’t know it. Fortunately, that conflict was filmed and you saw a guy half his age, much bigger than him assaulting him. John wasn’t going to turn the other cheek. That was John, that was his background."

In 2019, Prescott told The Guardian: "When I do die, after 50 years in politics, all they will show on the news is 60 seconds of me thumping a fellow in Wales."

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