Tony Blair envisioned a new Labor Party. John Prescott brought it to life

Analysis

Prescott’s place in the annals of Labor Party history is secure.

November 21, 2024, 10:20 am

John Prescott’s political career represented a shift in modern politics that saw the Labor Party focus its attention on powerful trade unionism on modern populism that delivered results.

Prescott’s solid working-class reputation provided strong support for Tony Blair and Labour’s modernizers ahead of their landslide victory in 1997. Pugnacious but loyal Blair was lucky to have him by his side.

Prescott will certainly be remembered for the iconic image of him punching a member of the public during the 2001 general election campaign after being egged on by the man.

This incident summed up Prescott’s place in the Labor project. While councilors in the capital feared the incident could cost them their seats, the public was largely on his side. Blair’s answer – “John will be John” – both summed up and put an end to this issue.

In the 1990s, an era when the word “spin doctor” entered the public lexicon, Prescott represented a link to the party’s strong roots in working-class life. He had no time for “beautiful people” – as he called the ranks of New Labor councilors who sported red roses and even fancy mobile phones.

He played a central role in Blair’s campaign to modernize the party in the 1990s, taking over the job that Labor leader John Smith had begun before his untimely death.

Prescott, with his union background and no-nonsense “beer and sandwiches” approach, offered support for the modernization project, including the abolition of union bloc voting, which had been Labor policy for years.

But it was this salt-of-the-earth image that allowed the press to gleefully report on some of his grandiose extravagances. A photograph of the burly former union official playing croquet at his luxurious Dorneywood residence became a gift to his political opponents.

A trainee chef aged 15 and later graduating from university, Prescott was often underestimated by those who saw only a man twisting his words.

But the hawkish Prescott cut his teeth in parliamentary politics at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s power, joining the Labor Party chairman in 1979 and speaking out on transport issues.

He promised to create an integrated transport system and said success would be measured by reducing car use.

He once said that his greatest success in politics was getting rid of slamming doors on trains, as this policy saved many lives. He is said to have been furious when New Labor refused to renationalise the railways.

At the 1999 Labor Party conference he drove his ministerial Jaguar 200 yards back to his hotel, causing both hilarity and controversy. He said that this was done so that the neat hairstyle of his wife Polina would not be spoiled. Anyone who knew Polina saw the truth in his statement.

The politician, who himself owned a Jaguar, soon received the nickname “two Jaguars” in the press. This turned into a “two strikes” when he punched a protester in 2001.

In 2006, he admitted to an affair with his former secretary Tracey Temple. Steadfast Polina stood next to him.

And there were several notable setbacks in his political career. The policy of creating regional assemblies was rejected by voters. The so-called Pathfinder Project, designed to build thousands of new homes, instead involved demolishing homes that would have been cheaper to repair.

Controversy has surrounded a series of visits to a US ranch by the businessman whose company took over the Millennium Dome and who was bidding to build Britain’s first super casino.

Prescott was a key witness to the power struggle at the heart of the Blair government, with both Peter Mandelson, now in the House of Lords, and former prime minister Gordon Brown vying for control.

Mandelson considered his relationship with Blair comparable to that of the American Kennedy brothers; Mandelson was “Bobby” to John Kennedy Blair. But Prescott saw the urban Mandelson differently. To help protect the Thames from flooding, he raised a crab in a glass jar and named it “Peter”.

Prescott later played the role of peacemaker between Blair and Brown at the height of tensions, earning the nickname “TB-GB”, which rhymes with the heebie-jeebies.

The Labor Party passed through Prescott like a stick of stone. Despite some lapses in judgment, he represented the transition from old to new Labour, and his place in the annals of party history is secure.