John Prescott, pugnacious deputy UK PM to Tony Blair, dies at 86

FILE PHOTO: Britain's former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott waits to enter the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 10, 2021. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -John Prescott, the pugnacious deputy prime minister to Britain's Tony Blair during his 10 years in government, has died aged 86 after a battle with Alzheimer's, his family said on Thursday.

Prescott, who served under Blair from 1997 to 2007, was known as a plain-speaking politician who bridged the divide between the traditional left-wing and the modernisers in the Labour Party.