British politician John Prescott, a former merchant seaman who rose to the post of deputy prime minister, has died at age 86. Prescott’s family announced his death on Thursday. They said the politician,

Lord Prescott, a former trade union activist and ex-merchant seaman who went on to be a key figure within Sir Tony Blair’s New Labour project, died “peacefully” surrounded by relatives at his care home after a battle with Alzheimer’s, his family said in a statement.

The PM joins Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in paying tribute to the former deputy prime minister, who has died aged 86.

John Prescott, a former British deputy prime minister in Tony Blair’s Labour government, has died, his family said on Thursday.

He was a cruise ship waiter before rising in the trade union movement and becoming one of the country’s best-known Labour politicians under Tony Blair.

(Reuters) - John Prescott, a former British deputy prime minister in Tony Blair's Labour government, has died, PA Media reported on Thursday, citing his family.

Here are key facts about John Prescott, Britain's combative former deputy prime minister, who has died after a battle with Alzheimer's disease, his family said on Thursday:

John Prescott's constituents have remembered him as a "strong character who did good for the city". The former Labour MP, who has died at the age of 86, represented Hull East for 40 years after first being elected in 1970.

The BBC's political editor for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Tim Iredale, described Prescott as a "man of the people". Karl Turner, the Labour MP for East Hull, said his contribution to public life will never be forgotten.

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.