John Prescott

Prescott was a steward on Cunard liners and an organiser in the National Union of Seamen, involved in the 1966 seamen's strike, before studying at Ruskin College and Hull University and winning Hull East in 1970. As deputy prime minister he was Blair's bridge to the unions and the party's traditional base, and he led the UK's negotiating team at the 1997 Kyoto climate talks. He was also known for a punch at a protester in 2001, a reminder that working-class authenticity cut both ways in the media. He died in 2024.