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Snapshot 6:Thu, Nov 21, 2024 6:27:29 PM GMT last edited by kiera22

UK: Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott Dies Aged 86

UK: Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott diesDies agedAged 86

    Above: Former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is intereviewed on the second day of the Labour Party conference on September 26, 2016 in Liverpool, England. Image copyright: Leon Neal/Getty Images via Getty Images

    The Spin

    For many, Prescott was and forever will be a shining beacon of the Labour Party's core values. Having left school school without qualifications before becoming a union activist, a local advocate for Hull, and a working -class counterweight to Tony Blair's air of elitism, there are not many left within Labour who can truly claim to be of the people in a way Prescott so unapologetically was. A man who acted as a bridge between both Blair and Brown as well as Old and New Labour, his passing is a true loss to British politics.

    Prescott's death has led to inevitable comparisons between himself and his modern equivalent, Angela Rayner. Yet this has reflection on the past has only made it ever clearer that the current Labour ticket remains but a cheap imitation of the New Labour titans of the past. Whilst Rayner is no Prescott she is certainly helped by the fact that Starmer is even less so like Blair – only time will tell if she can achieve what her mentor couldn't quite do and lead the country as a left wing Labour Prime Minister.

    Metaculus Prediction

    There is a 30% chance that Angela Rayner will win the next UK Labour Party leadership election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


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