Prescott Closes Party Conference With Favourite Routine
After spending his morning giving a public apology and then declaring his intention to resign next year, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott might have been excused from having to perform in yesterday’s usual end-of-conference fun. Yet, with the same steadfast determination to see his duties carried out as made him P&O’s Steward of the Year in 1957, Prescott delighted delegates by running through the whole of the gurning routine that has become such a Conference favourite.
‘The crowd have come to expect it,’ said Prescott, speaking to Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight. ‘I reckon they’ll miss it when it’s gone, but who’s going to gurn when I’m back doing the North Sea run to Zeebrugge? John Reid? Gordon Brown? David Miliband? Don’t make me laugh! Can they do this?’ At which point, he managed to cram the whole of his right fist up his left nostril.
Prescott went on to explain his reasons for his quitting his high profile role with the Labour government. ‘It’s not giving me enough of the right exposure,’ he said. ‘I’ve always wanted to get into cabaret. It’s my first love. That’s why I went for the ferry job all those years ago and politics has been a slight detour. I now want to get back to doing what I enjoy the most: holding in the palm of my hand as I do my turn in front of a live three-piece band in the Hawaiian lounge of the North Sea Princess.’
September 29th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
[…] Yesterday, I spent all day trying to think of something to mark Prescott’s last party conference as Deputy. At 11.30 last night, I thought to make him gurn, which wasn’t the most penetrating piece of satire but after watching him run through all his solemn and ‘meaningful’ faces during his speech, it just seemed appropriate… If I’ll miss anything about Prescott, it’s his ability to take himself so seriously. Never has a politician so clearly delighted being in a position of power. I forget who said it first, but at least when you’re ruled by a government made up of aristocrats, they know how to handle the power and responsibility with a certain elan. Prescott is like the slowest child in the class made milk monitor for the week. Or in Prescott’s case, what seems like an eternity. […]