A proposed memorial statue of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in his adopted home city of Hull has been rejected.
Councillors were torn over the idea, with their votes tied 26-26, but the Lord Mayor, Cheryl Payne, defeated the motion with her casting vote.
Council leader Mike Ross voted against the idea and said the statue would likely cost at least £150,000.
He questioned whether the people of Hull would think it was acceptable to spend that much of taxpayers’ money on the statue.
However, Cllr Ross added: ‘That’s not to say John Prescott should not be commemorated. The question is how.’
Councillor Julia Conner, who raised the motion proposing the statue, argued it would be a mark of respect for ‘a working class lad who made his way to the top of politics, and who made his mark on the city and the world’.
Referencing Lord Prescott hitting a protester who threw an egg at him during the 2001 general election campaign, she added: ‘He was a character. John’s presence and style certainly packed a punch’
Labour stalwart Lord Prescott, who died in November aged 86, was MP for Hull East from 1970 to 2010 – a span of 40 years.
He was deputy leader of the Labour party from 1994 to 2007 and deputy Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007. He died in November aged 86.
Lord Prescott was Tony Blair’s political bruiser and battering ram – the pugnacious bridge between New and old Labour who could down a pint in five seconds and was always up for a fight.
The son of a railwayman and a servant from north Wales, Lord Prescott was a fine boxer as a boy after moving to Yorkshire.
Later in life, he became used to the finer things in life, enjoying croquet on the lawn of his country house at a time when he was in charge of the country.