When Prescott became deputy PM in 1997, he was also handed a very large portfolio as secretary of state for the new Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
In 2001, this was broken up, with separate departments for environment, food and rural affairs, and for transport, hived off.
One of Prescott’s passions was devolution for England’s regions – to follow Scotland and Wales – though the elected regional assemblies he envisaged would have had fewer powers.
Because of the scale of opposition to his plans, the government held a referendum on them in 2004, in the North-East region where support was thought to be strongest.
The result was a bitter pill for Prescott to swallow, with 78% of the votes cast against devolution. A young Dominic Cummings was the mastermind behind the victorious No campaign, trying out tactics and messages he would later use in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Prescott’s plan for elected regional assemblies was quickly shelved.
Nevertheless, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, a cabinet minister under Gordon Brown, said Prescott was the first person to give the north of England a political profile and paved the way for later devolution to metro mayors.
Source:
www.bbc.com
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