Britain’s former deputy prime minister John Prescott, who served under Tony Blair and with him helped transform the country’s Labour party, has died aged 86, his family said on Thursday.

“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away yesterday (Wednesday) at the age of 86,” a statement read.

Blair, the privately educated lawyer who appointed working-class Prescott to help appease the Labour left as he moved the party to the centre ground, said he was “devastated” at Prescott’s death.

“There was no one quite like him in British politics,” he told BBC radio.

As well as being a prominent figure on the domestic stage, Prescott led negotiations for Britain for the 1997 international Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

Former US vice president and leading environmentalist Al Gore paid tribute to a “dear friend” and said he would be “forever grateful for his commitment to solving the climate crisis”.

“He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come,” he said in a statement.

“He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them — a talent that others spend years studying and cultivating, but that was second nature,” he added.

Gordon Brown, who succeeded Blair as prime minister, called Prescott a “colossus” and “titan of the Labour movement”.

He said he was “probably the first government minister to see the importance of the environment”, adding that the 1997 Kyoto agreement had to be attributed to “John’s hard work with Al Gore”.

Keir Starmer, who became Labour’s first prime minister since 2010 after a landslide general election win in July, called Prescott “a true giant of the Labour movement”.

‘Proud trade unionist’

“He was a staunch defender of working people and a proud trade unionist. During a decade as deputy prime minister, he was one of the key architects of a Labour government that transformed the lives of millions of people across the nation,” he added.

“So much of John’s work set the path for those of us fortunate enough to follow. From leading climate negotiations to fighting regional inequality, his legacy will live on well beyond his lifetime.”

Prescott, a former merchant seaman and trade union activist who served as a member of parliament for Hull in northern England for four decades, died “peacefully” at a care home, his wife Pauline, and two sons said.

“He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery,” they added.

Prescott, who was appointed to the House of Lords, suffered a stroke in 2019 and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. He stopped being a member of the upper chamber of parliament in July because of his health problems.

Plain-speaking, Prescott served for 10 years as Blair’s deputy following Labour’s landslide 1997 general election win. During a campaign stop in north Wales he punched a protester who threw an egg at him.

But he also acted as a mediator between Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown, who also helmed the transformation of Labour in the 1990s and who had designs on power.

Prescott’s brief included the environment and transport.

Blair said in a 2007 letter to Prescott that he saw his role as “smoothing out colleagues and sorting out colleagues and trouble-shooting”.

“The completely unique Prescott blend of charm and brutality… got you through the decade, kept the government together and above all, gave me a lot of fun. I was lucky to have you as my deputy,” he told him.