John Prescott was born in Prestatyn, Wales, in 1938. The son of a railway signalman, he was educated at Ellesmere Port Secondary Modern and at 15 began work as a trainee chef. In 1963, after working for ten years asa steward in the Merchant Navy, he gained a diploma in economics and politics at Ruskin College, Oxford, which specialises in courses for union working people. He later went on to gain a BSc in economics and economic history at the University of Hull.Maritime safety motivated John's decision to work as a full-time official for the National Union of Seamen between 1968 and 1970. He was elected Labour Member of Parliament for Hull East in 1970. He was a member of the Council of Europe between 1972 and 1975, Delegate EEC Parliamentary in1975 and Leader of the Labour Party Delegation to the European Parliament between 1976 and 1979. John held a series of Shadow Cabinet posts, dealing with regional affairs, employment, energy and transport, and in 1994 was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and appointed to the Privy Council.Following the Labour Party's election in May 1997 he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created in the Cabinet Office in 2001, and was made a department in its own right in 2002. The Office brings together key responsibilities for regional and local government, fire, housing, planning and regeneration.John Prescott married Pauline in 1961, and has two grown-up sons.