John Prescott who sadly has died today, was one of those great Labour MPs who gave his all to the Labour movement – and to his constituency and his beloved Hull.
I got to know, and work with John, through the devolution movement that was gathering pace after Labour were elected in 1997. Leaving a well-paid job as a university lecturer in Sheffield to dip my toes into campaign waters by taking a sabbatical to establish Campaign for Yorkshire – a cross-party movement campaigning for elected regional government in Yorkshire – I had so much fun, I extended it to a two-year sabbatical, and never looked back.
They were heady years. Labour was in power and delivering. We had devolution extended to the nations in the shape of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, and in Stormont in Northern Ireland. London had its own Assembly. Surely the regions would be next?
John was a passionate devolutionist. As the new deputy prime minister (an inspired move by Tony Blair to make this working-class ship’s steward from the North his deputy), John had devolution in his remit as secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions.
The Campaign for the English Regions
Establishing a Campaign for the English Regions with John Tomany, John Adams and George Moran meant that we were going to be working closely with John and his team. Given the pace of devolution in that first Blair term, we thought that we had a good chance of elected regional assemblies in at least the three northern regions.
They were heady days. We already had regional development agencies, seen as a precursor to elected regional government. And we had a deputy prime minister who was a passionate supporter. What could possibly go wrong?
There were meetings. There were conventions. Press releases. Campaign days – and very public meetings where we usually had to fight UKIP, who thought because we had the word ‘regions’ in our campaign title, that we were an EU plot. Plus ça change.
John Prescott was a minister unafraid to go off script
I got to work closely with John’s special adviser Paul Hackett. I can remember helping him write one of John’s speeches for party conference. It was carefully scripted, in 14-point text, with lots of spacing so he could read off the script. The thing is, he never did, and this time he turned over and missed out pages – and no-one was any the wiser. He was famous for going off script in so many ways, and that was his absolute charm.
He was intellectually underrated. Many remember him for THAT punch. I remember him for an understanding of planning and the spatial aspects of delivery that I have not seen in many politicians. He could take a helicopter view of policy and do proper joined-up thinking that you rarely see in ministers, who usually become myopic in defense of their department and their policy brief.
That’s what made him so special and important for devolution. He got it: and he understood that as a nation we were not best served by all decisions being made and delivered by the square mile that was Whitehall and Westminster. It’s as true today as it was then.
Undeterred by North East regional referendum defeat
I think we all genuinely believed that a new constitutional settlement for the English regions was going to happen on his watch. It felt like this was the unfinished bit in the devolution jigsaw that Blair was giving us. What we failed to recognise was that the centre, when push comes to shove, rarely lets go easily.
And, of course, the rest is history. If you want to scupper something, then use a referendum. Look at changing the voting system or membership of the EU as cases in point.
John was tenacious. On reflection, we could see that it wasn’t going to happen. As soon as Dominic Cummings (yes, THE Dominic Cummings) got involved in the “No” campaign for the North East referendum it was game over. John refused to accept it wasn’t to be. He campaigned like a man impassioned. He even made pre-recorded phone calls to voters to get the vote out. Sadly, someone got the timing wrong and, instead of going out at four in the afternoon, they went out at four in the morning. No wonder we lost.
A down-to-earth and kind man
He continued to do great things with Blair – and to be an absolute champion not only for devolution, but for the ordinary working man and woman. He understood what made people tick in a way that many in Blair’s cabinet did not, just because he had lived their lives. He was truly a working-class hero.
I remember John as a kind man, and not the bruiser some have portrayed, but in many ways also a shy man. I don’t think he ever felt comfortable with some of the trappings of government. At party conference it was always fish and chips – not some high-end fancy meal.
He was also really interesting. His fascination with canals was something I remember. It inspired me so much that I put it into Campaign for Yorkshire White Paper as part of our transport solution for the region.
Gratitude for a true working-class hero
I learned so much from all the devolution campaigning – and from him – and I shall be forever grateful. He came campaigning for me when I was a parliamentary candidate in 2010 in Keighley. And he felt that general election loss keenly.
He also inspired friendships and loyalty. The people I met through John and through our campaigning together have become some of my greatest friends in the Labour movement. And for that I am also truly grateful. So, thank you John. Thank you for what you gave me, for what you inspired in others and your service to both party and country. There are not many in your mould, but I am truly thankful you walked amongst us.
