Prescott punch

rdf:langString Prescott punch

rdf:langString left

rdf:langString Video of the punch

rdf:langString In the evening of 16 May 2001, John Prescott, the British deputy prime minister, was hit in the face by an egg while walking to a Labour Party election rally at the Little Theatre in Rhyl, North Wales, in the run-up to the 2001 United Kingdom general election. Prescott hit the protester who had thrown the egg, agricultural worker Craig Evans, with a left-handed jab. A brief scuffle ensued, during which Prescott was pushed into a wall before police and Labour Party supporters moved Evans away. The incident came on the same day that the Labour Party's election manifesto had been launched. Earlier in the day Prime Minister Tony Blair had been confronted by an angry relative of a patient in a Birmingham hospital, and Home Secretary Jack Straw had been jeered at a conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales. Labour's senior leadership were divided on how to respond to the incident, which Prescott characterised as an act of self defence. Alastair Campbell, Downing Street Director of Communications, told Prescott to apologise but he refused. Sky News broke the first news of the incident and were threatened with a libel suit by Labour. Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour's election campaign leader Gordon Brown stood by Prescott, though Blair thought an apology should have been made. The story led most newspapers on 17 May and coverage was generally not negative. Blair referred to the incident in a cautious manner at that morning's press conference but it became clear that the press were treating it as a humorous occurrence. Polls found that the public were supportive of Prescott's response to being egged at close range and it did not affect Labour's poll standing. Labour won the election, with a slightly reduced but still very large majority.