British politician, born in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, NC Wales, UK. He served in the merchant navy (195563), and studied at Oxford and Hull universities. In 1968 he became an officer of the National Union of Seamen, and a Labour MP in 1970. Although opposed to Britain's membership of the European Community, he was elected to the European Parliament in 1975, and became leader of the Labour group (19769). In the shadow cabinet he was spokesman for employment, energy, and transport, and he was deputy leader of the party (19947). In the 1997 Labour government, he was appointed deputy prime minister and secretary of state for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. After the general election he retained his position as deputy prime minister, became first secretary of state at the cabinet office and chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (20012), and in 2002 was given responsibility for local government and the regions. Following a cabinet reshuffle in 2006, he remained as deputy prime minister but lost his department.
John Prescott|
|
|
| Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| In office | |
| 2 May 1997 – present | |
| Preceded by | Michael Heseltine |
| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
| Born |
31 May 1938 Prestatyn, United Kingdom |
| Constituency | Hull East |
| Majority | 11,747 (37.7%) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Pauline Prescott |
John Leslie Prescott MP (born May 31, 1938) is a British Labour Party politician, Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State and Member of Parliament for the north east constituency of Hull East. He became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party after coming second in the Labour leadership election in 1994 and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister after Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 General Election.
A former ship's steward and trade union activist, he is presented as the political link to the "working class" in a "New" Labour party led by modernising middle class university-educated professionals, despite his own university education.
Early life
The son of a railway signalman (and Labour councillor) and grandson of a miner, Prescott was born in Prestatyn and brought up initially in Brinsworth in South Yorkshire, England.
Parliament
He returned to the National Union of Seamen as a full-time official before being elected to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hull East in 1970, succeeding Commander Harry Pursey, the retiring Labour MP.
Prescott held various posts in Labour's shadow cabinet, but his career was secured by an impassioned closing speech in the debate at the Labour Party Conference in 1993 on the introduction of "one member, one vote" elections for the party leadership. Prescott became deputy leader with the first leadership vote under the new system following the death of John Smith in 1994, .
Deputy Prime Minister
With the election of a Labour government in 1997, Prescott was made Deputy Prime Minister and given an impressively large portfolio at the head of the newly created Department for Transport, Environment and the Regions.
It should be noted that in the United Kingdom, the title "Deputy Prime Minister" has rarely been used and confers no specific powers (in which it is similar to the pre-20th century usage of Prime Minister). for Prescott, salary was based on his position as Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions until 2001. The Deputy Prime Minister often stands in when the Prime Minister is unavailable, the most common example being at Prime Minister's Questions (usually when the Prime Minister is out of the country), although Prescott has attended various Heads of Government meetings on behalf of Tony Blair.
It is generally accepted that the second most powerful member of the present British government is the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, not John Prescott.
Environment
The UK played a major role in the successful negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and Prescott lead for the country during the discussions.
Transport
Prescott pursued an integrated public transport policy, with little evident success.
Prescott had a stormy relationship with the privatised railway industry in Great Britain.
In 1998, Prescott was criticised by investors in the railway for his statement - at the Labour Party conference that year - that the privatised railway was a "national disgrace".
In that speech, Prescott also announced that he would be taking a far tougher line with the companies, and to that end he would be having a "spring clean of the regulators". This meant that the incumbent Director of Passenger Rail Franchising - John O'Brien - and the Rail Regulator John Swift QC - both appointed by the previous Conservative government, would have to make way for Prescott appointees. In February 1999, the regulation of the passenger rail operators fell to Sir Alastair Morton, whom Prescott announced would be appointed as chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, which would take over from the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising whose office would be wound up. Although the two men frequently disagreed - sometimes publicly - they shared Prescott's view that the railway industry needed a considerable shake-up in its institutional, operational, engineering and economic matrix if it was to attract and retain private investment, and enable the companies within it to become strong, competent and successful.
Regional development
Prescott supported regional government in England.
Prescott's conduct of his Department was criticised in relation to housing development. Prescott made a gaffe in January 1998 when he declared in a radio interview that "The green belt is a Labour achievement;
In the north of England, Prescott approved the demolition of some 200,000 homes that are judged to be in "failing areas" as part of his Pathfinder regeneration scheme. In the South East (the most affluent area of the UK), Prescott is widely criticised for building high rise flats on sites that were formerly houses, back gardens, and green areas.
As part of his remit over planning issues Prescott introduced the Local Authorities (Code of Conduct) Order 2001.
Rebellion over education reforms
On 17 December 2005, Prescott made public his disapproval of Tony Blair's plans to give state schools the right to govern their finances and admission policies and to increase the number of city academies. In an interview that was the first that Prescott has made against Blair since his election as leader in 1994, he also said that the spirit of "fighting class" should be brought back to the Labour Party, an ideal that sits uneasily amongst many middle-class MPs in his parliamentary party.
Demotion and abolition of department
In a Cabinet reshuffle on 5 May 2006, Prescott was stripped of his department following lurid revelations about his private life (see below) and poor performance by Labour in UK local elections.
Succession
The British press speculated on 9 July 2006 that as a consequence of the continuing problems centred on Prescott, Blair is preparing to replace him as Deputy Prime Minister with David Milliband MP, whilst possibly retaining Prescott as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.
Announcement of retirement
On 28 September 2006, at the Labour Party conference in Manchester, John Prescott apologised for the bad press he had caused for the party during the previous year.
He confirmed he would stand down as Labour's deputy leader when Tony Blair leaves Downing Street.
Controversies
Prescott has been involved in a number of controversies and incidents that have caused public concern and widespread media interest. Prescott denies saying the Bush administration had been "crap" on the Middle East road map Johnathan Prescott involvement; any links with the business of Johnathan Prescott
Trivia
Comments about other politicians
John Prescott has been accused of making tactless remarks or gestures about his fellow politicians, including fellow members of the Labour Party.
Public speaking
Prescott has gained a reputation in the British press for confused speech, mangled syntax and grammar.
An oft-quoted but unverified story in Jeremy Paxman's The Political Animal is that, before being accepted as transcribers to Hansard, applicants must listen to one of Prescott's speeches and write down what he was trying to say.
One of many examples occurred at the 2006 Labour spring conference where the BBC reported "Fans of Prescottese were not disappointed as the deputy prime minister began by harking back to the bad old days when Labour had 'single finger majorities'".
Sobriquets
It has been a game played by the media to attach various nicknames to John Prescott.
As various misfortunes befell Prescott the soubriquets became more colourful leading to "Two Jags" (Prescott owns one Jaguar, and has the use of another as his official ministerial car), "Two Jabs" (referring to his retaliation against a protester farmer in 2001), "Two Shags" (in reference to his extra-marital affairs), "Two Shacks" (referring to his former country house) and by The Independent, "No Jobs" (after he lost his department in a cabinet reshuffle, following exposure of his affair).
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