First name/s: John Leslie
Last name: Prescott
Known names / nicknames: Prezza
Date of birth: 31/05/1938
Year of birth: 1938

Life before Ruskin

Date and place of birth: 31 May 1938, Prestatyn, Wales

Family: son of John Herbert Prescott, JP, and Phyllis Prescott.

Work: Trainee Chef, 1953-1955; Steward, Passenger Lines, Merchant Navy, 1955-1963.

Politics/Trade union activity: Recruitment Officer, General and Municipal Workers Union(temporary), 1965; Full Time Official, National Union of Seamen, 1968-1970.

Trade Union membership (at time of entry to Ruskin) ~ other Trade Union

Life at Ruskin

Dates at Ruskin: 1963-1965

Source of funding: Unknown.

Campaigns/political activity:

Subjects studied at Ruskin: Economics, Politics

Dissertation:

Qualification: Diploma in Economics and Politics

 

Life after Ruskin

Education: Hull University, 1965-1968.

Work:

Politics/trade union activity: Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull(East),
1970-1983; Hull East, 1983-1997; Kingston upon Hull East, 1997-2010; Member of
Select Committee on the Nationalised Industries, 1973-1979; PPS to then
Secretary of State for Trade, 1974-1976; Opposition Spokesman on Transport,
1979-1981; Opposition Spokesman on Regional Affairs and Devolution, 1981-1983;
Opposition Spokesman on Transport, 1983-1984 and 1988-1993; Opposition
Spokesman on Employment, 1984-1987 and 1993-1994; Opposition Spokesman on
Energy, 1987-1989; Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the
Regions, 1997-2001; Deputy Prime Minister, 1997-2007; made life peer, Baron
Prescott of Kingston upon Hull, 2010.

Family: Married Pauline Tilston, 1961; two sons.

Place & date of death:

Date of death:
Year of death: 0

Achievements / Publications

Not Wanted on Voyage (jointly), 1966; Prezza : my story – pulling no punches, 2008.

Material in archives or already published articles

Personal Archives held at the Hull University Archives, Hull History Centre.

Punchlines: A Crash Course in English with John Prescott by Simon Hoggart, 2003.

Fighting Talk: Biography of John Prescott by Colin Brown, 1997.

Image

Notes on Image/s

Comment of contributor/s and sources

Note: Going back to 2008 John Prescott recounted a conversation with the principal informing him that she had found his old records, when he was asked, ‘Did I want them, or should she throw them out?’ He goes on to say how amazed and surprised he was by how much detail had been kept: from bills to reports on progress. John Prescott’s pleasure in the discovery is evident on reading the article. John Prescott said  “I was amazed how detailed they were. Every little scrap had been retained, from bills to private reports on my progress. I hadn’t known how hard Ruskin had worked on my behalf to get me there.” .Prezza_recalls_Oxford_years Oxford Mail archive 13 June 2008
[accessed 18 November 2013])

Author/s

Stefan Dickers, November 2013