John Prescott was never short of a word or two – and while they could sometimes become a bit jumbled, he never minced them either.
The former Labour deputy prime minister, who died yesterday aged 86, was a formidable debater and also famous for cracking jokes, even in the darkest moments.
After punching a member of the public who egged him outside a Labour rally in 2001, his boss Tony Blair called him to berate him.
The then prime minister demanded: ‘Well, what happened?’, to which Prezza responded: ‘I was just carrying out your orders. You told us to connect with the electorate, so I did’. Blair later admitted to the press: ‘John is John’.
In 2006 the press exposed his two-year affair with his diary secretary Tracey Temple, who was 24 years his junior. But he insisted that they worked very hard for the country – although the straight-talking trade unionist did admit they managed to ‘squeeze in’ some sex too.
Lord Prescott was dyslexic, and would often muddle syntax, struggling with the arrangement of words and phrases. Once he said: ‘The Green Belt is a Labour achievement and we intend to build on it’.
Joking about it he once told the Commons: ‘Syntax! Syntax? I thought that was a new Tory tax!’.
And there was nearly a diplomatic incident when on a climate change-related trip to China he said the food was nowhere near as good as his favourite Chinese takeaway in Hull.
John Prescott singing at the Amicus union party in Manchester, on the eve of the final day of the Labour Party conference in 2006. He has died aged 86
Here are 20 of the most famous Prescott-isms:
1. ‘The food in China is not as good as Jack Chu’s in Hull’ – on Chinese food
Mr Prescott loved a Chinese meal at this restaurant in Hull – more than the food in China itself
2. ‘The rich countries of this world have thrown down the gauntlet to the poorest. They poisoned [developing countries] now they’re trying to strangle them’ – on demanding the suspension of Kyoto agreement that he helped create
3. ”Oh I made that cr*p – can we go again?’ Nick Robinson: ‘We are – in fact – live, deputy prime minister’.
4. ‘It’s a bit like alcohol. You can finish being an alcoholic. But if you go back to drinking more and more alcohol, you will become alcoholic again’ – on his bulimia
5. ‘I’ve been stupid. ‘We were both busy with our jobs but we sometimes managed to squeeze in sex – after his affair with his diary secretary Tracey Temple was disclosed
In April 2006 came the moment that marked the end, when it was revealed that Prescott had conducted a two-year affair with his secretary, Tracey Temple
His wife Pauline stood by him
6. ‘I have quite fundamental disagreements with Tony Blair’ – June 1994.
7. ‘I am afraid of being rejected, of being put down’ – Interview, The Sunday Telegraph, 1994.
8. ‘To be fair, you were either with Neil Kinnock or against him. Same with me. So we were against each other’ – Interview in Esquire, 1994.
9. ‘I don’t want to be a member of the House of Lords. I will not accept it.’ – before he entered the House of Lords
After stepping down at the 2010 election, he was elevated to the Lords
10 ‘Did they find any syntax?’ – After a routine brain scan following a minor road accident in 1996.
11 ‘I always have a problem with my face. I have to live with it’ – April 1996.
12. ‘Here we have a Government disintegrating between our eyes’ – 1997, on the John Major administration.
13. ‘They are gnats on an elephant’s backside’ – On Labour’s spin doctors during the 1997 general election campaign.
14. ‘I have changed. I no longer keep the coal in the bath. I keep it in the bidet’ – When he announced that he had joined the middle classes.
While Blair was away and Prescott was supposed to be standing in, photographers captured him playing croquet with his officials on the Dorneywood lawn
15. ‘If present trends continue we will soon need a motorway, 150 lanes wide, between London and Leeds’ – As Transport Secretary.
16. ‘My position is that I want to make our position clear, the example in Germany is just one example, for example’ – As Environment Secretary (1997-2001).
17. ‘During the election, I met this chap who said, ‘you’ve got to help me John. I’ve never had sex under a Labour Government’. If you are listening, mate, I hope the first 100 days were good for you’ – October 1997.
18. ‘You are a terrible man for asking the questions and not giving an answer’ – To BBC interviewer, Edward Stourton, October 2002.
19. ‘He’s a little s***’ – Prescott on Blair after he ‘betrayed’ Gordon Brown by refusing to step down from power
20. ‘You told us to connect with the electorate, so I did’ – to Tony Blair after punching a voter
Prescott was talented amateur boxer
Enraged by Labour’s inept handling of agriculture, a local farmer, Craig Evans, threw an egg from short range at Prescott’s head. At that, the Deputy Prime Minister turned and punched Evans in the face, before being dragged into a brief brawl in 2021
