London: Former UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has passed away at the age of 85. Prescott, who had been living in a care center due to a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, was a prominent figure in British politics and a former trade union activist.
Prescott served as Deputy Prime Minister under Tony Blair for a decade following the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the 1997 general election. Born in 1938 in Wales, the son of a railway signalman, Prescott left school at 15 and worked various jobs before entering politics.
His family stated that he passed away peacefully at the care center. Former British Prime Ministers James Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, among others, have expressed their condolences. Blair described Prescott as one of the most capable figures in British politics.
