Who will be Labour’s next John Prescott?
He couldn’t have been more different to Tony Blair, yet John Prescott ended up being our longest serving deputy prime minister. But is there a talent like him in Starmer’s cabinet? Asks William Atkinson
As well as having a decent right hook, the late John Prescott was our longest-serving deputy prime minister (DPM). The formal creation of the role is surprisingly recent. Clement Attlee served as Winston Churchill’s de facto wartime deputy. But it took half a century for Michael Heseltine to be the first officially granted the title under John Major.
A DPM is not like a vice president. They are not the formal successor to the premier in the event of their incapacitation. ‘Deputy prime ministers’ – like Heseltine or Prescott – have alternated with ‘first secretaries of state’ such as Rab Butler under Harold Macmillan or Peter Mandelson under Gordon Brown. Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster, lords president of the council and other ministers have all also acted as effective deputies.
‘First secretary of state’ sounds like a vulgar Americanism in comparison to the clubbable ‘deputy prime minister’. Why either or neither would be chosen is down to the discretion of any Number 10 occupant. Nick Clegg was made DPM as an act of coalition bridge-building (and ego-managing). Therese Coffey was qualified for 49 days in the role on the basis that she was a close pal of Liz Truss.
Prescott had been elected as Labour’s deputy leader at the same time as Tony Blair became its chief. The two were such obvious contrasts – private school lawyer versus ship steward who failed his 11+, middle-class moderniser against a working-class pugilist – that keeping Prescott inside the tent, Jags and all, was a useful sop from New Labour to old.
Rayner: Prescott reincarnated?
Similarities abound with the current incumbent: Angela Rayner. Like Prescott, Rayner is Labour’s deputy leader. But this didn’t guarantee Keir Starmer would make her his DPM. Brown chose not to appoint Harriet Harman to the role when the pair replaced Blair and Prescott in 2007. That Starmer did so was a sign of Rayner’s importance to him – and her threat.
Prescott never shied from a fight or a pint. Neither does Rayner. Both are self-consciously working-class in a Labour Party closer to Hampstead than Hartlepool. Like Prescott, she seems to accumulate jobs with consummate ease. Prescott once held court over an environment, transport, and the regions super-department. Rayner combines being DPM with taking the lead on housing, having left a botched demotion from Starmer with more roles.
Yet even though Prescott had stood against Blair for the leadership, he served as a loyal number two throughout his premiership. He was the go-between betwixt Downing Street and the Treasury. Even if Reeves would like to consider herself Brown’s heir, she does not threaten Starmer as Brown did Blair. Accumulating bad headlines faster than she does new hairstyles or Linkedin updates, few expect the Chancellor still to be in post by the next election, let alone be Stamer’s heir apparent.
While Wes Streeting may have caught attention for his refreshing willingness to declare the NHS emperor has no clothes, a large chunk of party members – in and out of Parliament – view him as a Blairite sell-out who’s too ambitious by half. As Labour’s poll lead continues to shrink, as endless compromises over spending cuts leave the party faithful ever more disillusioned, they will want a leader who seems a little more authentic than Starmer’s puce roboticism.
As Labour’s poll lead continues to shrink, as endless compromises over spending cuts leave the party faithful ever more disillusioned, they will want a leader who seems a little more authentic than Starmer’s puce roboticism
That makes Rayner the standout candidate if Starmer stumbles. Being also elected by the party membership makes Rayner the hardest minister for Starmer to sack, and the one who benefits the most from his discomfort. The two have not always seen eye-to-eye. But she is the bridge to the party’s left – amongst MPs, trade unions, and the membership – that he needs.
William Atkinson is assistant editor at Conservativehome