John Prescott’s last photo showed him smiling broadly with his wife Pauline at a birthday celebration.
The former deputy prime minister has died aged 86 following a battle with Alzheimer’s. His family, who announced his death, said he had “spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment”.
And a last photo posted on his X account showed him in good spirits as he beamed next to his wife as she held a birthday cake. In a statement released after his death, Pauline and sons, Johnathan and David, said that representing the people of Hull had been “his greatest honour”.
“We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86,” they said. “He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.
“John spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment, doing so from his time as a waiter on the cruise liners to becoming Britain’s longest serving deputy prime minister.
“John dearly loved his home of Hull and representing its people in Parliament for 40 years was his greatest honour. We would like to thank the amazing NHS doctors and nurses who cared for him after his stroke in 2019 and the dedicated staff at the care home where he passed away after latterly living with Alzheimer’s.
“In lieu of flowers and if you wish to do so, you can donate to Alzheimer’s Research UK. As you can imagine, our family needs to process our grief so we respectfully request time and space to mourn in private. Thank you.”
Born in Prestatyn, Wales, on May 31 1938, the son of a railwayman, Lord Prescott left school at the age of 15 to work as a trainee chef and then as a steward on the Cunard Line before entering politics.
John met his future wife Pauline at a bus stop in 1957 when home in Chester from a trip to New Zealand. She wrote in her autobiography Smile Though Your Heart is Breaking: “A voice at my elbow startled me. ‘Hi there, it’s Pauline, isn’t it?’. I turned and found myself face-to face with a man I knew only as the ex-boyfriend of Barbara, a girl I worked with. His name was John Prescott.”
While Mr Prescott said of the occasion: "I went across, we chatted and I asked her if she'd like to go to the pictures. She said yes, so we made a date. We were both on the rebound, so it was fortunate timing. Can't remember what the film was, but I know she talked all the way through it and I was a bit embarrassed."