Ex-UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is hailed as a working-class hero after his death at 86

LONDON (AP) — British politician John Prescott, a pugnacious and personable former merchant seaman who rose to the post of deputy prime minister in Tony Blair's Labour government, has died at age 86.

Prescott’s family announced his death on Thursday. They said the politician, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, died in a care home on Wednesday “surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.”

The family said Prescott had “spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment.”

For a decade, Prescott brought grit, humor and working-class authenticity to the government of the young, polished Blair, who became prime minister in 1997.