John Prescott, Britain's longest-serving deputy prime minister who died on Wednesday, was indispensable to Tony Blair's New Labour government, a working-class trailblazer who connected with the public in ways most politicians cannot.

From fun nights on a ‘ship of shame’ on the Thames, to the acts of kindness and loyalty behind the scenes, John Prescott’s former cabinet colleague, Jack Straw, remembers a man who didn’t give a hoot

Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has passed away at the age of 86 after battling Alzheimer's disease. Tony Blair, under whom Prescott served from 1997 to 2007, led the tributes, praising him as a "loyal and unique" figure in British politics.