Tributes paid to former deputy PM and Hull MP John Prescott

The leader of the Labour Group on Hull City Council, Councillor Daren Hale, said: “John was an absolute giant, who adored his adopted city, which he served with such distinction.

“Even after his 40 years as MP for Hull East, John participated fully in local life, and we feel personally privileged that he still found time to pop into the Guildhall to see us.

“He is a local, national and international political legend and will be so sadly missed.”

As a tribute, the council said the Guildhall flag would be flying at half-mast.

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson told BBC Breakfast a lot of Prescott’s work “was hard slog”, and that his achievements went “largely under the radar”.

Johnson said his close friend was “very intelligent and very dedicated”.

Commenting on the egg incident, he added: “In a sense it displays his authenticity.

“John had it in spades and probably didn’t know it. Fortunately, that conflict was filmed and you saw a guy half his age, much bigger than him assaulting him. John wasn’t going to turn the other cheek. That was John, that was his background.”

In 2019, Prescott told The Guardian: “When I do die, after 50 years in politics, all they will show on the news is 60 seconds of me thumping a fellow in Wales.”

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