John Prescott, who has died aged 86, was a figurehead of New Labour, who was also instinctively sceptical of some of its instincts.
He was a bridgehead to Labour's traditional working class roots who saw the value in, and indeed personified, championing the aspirations of the less well off.
His value to Tony Blair, who swept to a landslide victory in 1997 and went on to win two further elections with Prescott at his side, was that he could reassure and lead those within Labour sceptical of its movement towards the centre.
He was also a binding agent, skilled at holding the party and its sometimes warring factions together.
It is not hard to see the parallels between then and now, when we once again have a plain-speaking working class northerner as deputy prime minister to a polished North London lawyer.
Angela Rayner's backstory - and approach to politics - have clear parallels with John Prescott, something Rayner herself has openly acknowledged.
Describing how she planned to do the job of deputy PM in 2022, she told LBC: "I'm going to be John Prescott in a skirt, I just say it how I see it."
She added: "Me and John are good mates, we see each other quite frequently, and I definitely look better in a skirt."
Speaking to broadcasters after news of his death, Rayner said he had been "a huge support to me ever since I came into politics", offering the advice to "be authentically yourself and keep thinking about the people you’re there to represent".
She added: "That’s what he always said to me, 'you’ve got a voice kid, use it'".