John Prescott famously predicted that when he died, he would only be remembered for the incident in North Wales during the 2001 General Election when he punched a man who had thrown an egg at him. The ‘two jabs' incident has indeed featured in many of the obituaries, but the coverage has not been limited to that single incident, nor to the stereotypical view of John as a ‘northern bruiser' or a throwback to an earlier era of Labour politics.
Instead, there has been a widespread recognition that John was a very talented and skillful political operator, who played a crucial role at the highest level in the life of the 1997-2010 Labour governments, and was responsible for some of their most significant achievements. The obituaries have also rightly highlighted John's warm personality, great sense of humour and personal kindness. As someone who served as a minister for seven years in departments which John headed (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions from 1997 to 2001, and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from 2002 to 2005) I can vouch for this much more accurate appraisal of John's personality, abilities and record.
Those of us who had the good fortune to work closely with him saw at first hand his commitment, drive, and care for getting decisions right.
He was a complex individual, and people who only had sight of a few of the many-layered facets that made up John Prescott could easily jump to false conclusions about his personality, motivation and abilities. Those of us who had the good fortune to work closely with him saw at first hand his commitment, drive, and care for getting decisions right. He was not always the easiest person to work for, he could at times be impatient and grumpy, but we knew his heart was in the right place, he wanted the best for the country, and he would not shy away from difficult issues which needed to be addressed. He was a good delegator, but not to the extent of distancing himself from the complexities of issues for which he was ultimately responsible. He was also unwaveringly committed to driving through the policies he had approved, rather than leaving others to pick up the pieces. He was appreciative, generous and thoughtful in his relationship with those who worked for him.
Much media coverage following John's death has focused on his crucial role in binding together the diverse elements that made up the Labour government elected in 1997, and in particular mediating the sometimes fractious relationship between the Prime Minister and chancellor, a role which John himself often described as ‘marriage guidance'. There has also been recognition of the important contribution John made to the 1997 Kyoto protocol on climate change. But less attention has been given to John's contribution to domestic policy, which was of course central to the work of his departments. There have been references to the Decent Homes programme which brought long-overdue improvements to millions of council and housing association homes, but less to other housing policies including the dramatic reductions in homelessness and rough sleeping achieved during the period from 1997 to 2010.
John's commitment to devolution within the UK has also been mentioned, but mainly focusing only on the failure of his regional devolution agenda following the North East referendum in 2004. Less mentioned has been the successful creation of the Greater London Authority in 2000. This introduced the role of an elected Mayor, an innovation which has paved the way for the on-going process of devolution to Mayors and combined authorities. This remains unfinished business, but John was very much a driving force in getting devolution on the political agenda.
John was equally concerned to build a better relationship between local and central government in England, with a focus on removing arbitrary restrictions on local authority powers and discretion and enhancing financial support where necessary to enable local authorities to achieve more and raise standards of service. His period in office saw a series of important reforms, including the replacement of Compulsory Competitive Tendering with the Best Value regime; the relaxation of arbitrary restrictions on the use of capital receipts, and on borrowing, charging and trading; the introduction of the CPA performance assessment regime, and the repeal of the offensive and inappropriate Section 28 restrictions. He presided over a steady and sustained increase in the level of central government financial support for local authorities, and gave strong encouragement, through initiatives such as the Beacon Council scheme, to the promotion and dissemination of best practice.
The Government was not averse from intervention when confronted with serious failings by individual authorities but the objective was improvement not punishment, and the transformation which resulted in a number of previously failing authorities was a cause for celebration. The Fire and Rescue Service was also part of John's responsibilities, and coming out of the difficult industrial relations dispute of 2002-03, John oversaw a radical series of reforms introduced by the Fire and Rescue Services Act of 2004, with its strong focus on prevention which led to a very significant reduction in the number of deaths and injuries caused by fires.
In so many ways, John was a ‘one off' who left an indelible impression on the lives of a large number of people. Some of us had the privilege of knowing him well, but many, many more who did not have that opportunity, benefitted from the decisions he took and the causes he promoted across a very wide range of public service and policy areas. He will be sadly missed, but leaves a rich legacy which we can celebrate with pride.
Nick Raynsford served as a Labour government minister from 1997 to 2005
