Prescott to announce quitting

2007-08-22 18:14

London - Britain's former deputy prime minister John Prescott is to announce his resignation as a lawmaker, a report said on Wednesday, in what could be a sign that a general election is imminent.

The Hull Daily Mail in northern England said Prescott, 69, will tell a meeting of local Labour Party members on Saturday that he will retire as their representative in the lower chamber of parliament the House of Commons.

A spokesperson for the governing Labour Party had no comment to make when contacted by AFP while there was no immediate word from Prescott's office.

But if confirmed, the announcement would fuel rumours that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to call an early election as Prescott is strongly associated with former premier Tony Blair.

Brown has until May 2010 at the latest to call a general election.

But he raised the prospect of an early vote soon after becoming Labour leader by appointing a general election co-ordinator, while a leaked internal memo published this month advised an early vote to exploit his strong position.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed Labour insider as saying Prescott, who stepped down as Blair's deputy on June 27, has always kept his constituency party up to date with his plans "and this is no different".

Punching protesters

"He believes local party members should be told first, not the media," he was quoted as saying.

Prescott, a burly former trade union leader renowned for his mangled syntax, punching an egg-throwing protester during the 2001 election campaign and an affair with his secretary, is one of Britain's longest-serving lawmakers.

He was first elected as member of parliament for Hull East in 1970 and has won 10 successive election campaigns.

Since stepping down as deputy prime minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party, Prescott was appointed a full representative of the British delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The body, established in 1949 and based in Strasbourg, France, promotes human rights and freedoms.

He is also said to be writing his autobiography.

Among his often overlooked political achievements is being one of Britain's main negotiators for the Kyoto Treaty to cut global warming and bridging the divide between Labour's working-class past and modernising present.

- AFP