His tenacity in pushing crucial deals over the line in Kyoto and Copenhagen was born of belief in social justice

• John Prescott, British former deputy prime minister, dies aged 86
• UK politics live – latest updates

“When I do die,” said John Prescott as he entered his last decade, “after 50 years in politics, all they will show on the news is 60 seconds of me thumping a fellow in Wales.”

He wasn’t wrong. TV news bulletins, ever the reducers of nuance and detail, showed that clip of him flooring a voter in Rhyl on a loop on Thursday, when the former British deputy prime minister’s death at the age of 86 was announced.