‘I don’t regret throwing that egg,’ says man Prescott hit

Recalling the blow, Lord Mandelson, a former Labor minister, told Sky News Breakfast: “I was in Hartlepool, fighting for my seat, and Tony called and said, ‘What should I do?’ He said, “People say it’s time for him to go.” I said, “Let’s see.” Let’s see how the story develops… Wait until night.”

“Everything was fine in the morning. It wasn’t brilliant, it wasn’t perfect. He was deputy prime minister. He just hit someone over the head. It wasn’t perfect. But I remember Tony was giving a press conference that morning. And he just kind of (said) “John John.” He neutralized all this.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Alan Johnson, the former health secretary, said: “I think John was always afraid that he would be celebrated with just one punch. But in a way it shows his authenticity – John had it in abundance and he probably didn’t know it.

“Luckily the confrontation was caught on video and you saw a guy half his age, a lot bigger than him, attacking him, and John wasn’t about to turn the other cheek. That was John, that was his background, that was where the blow came from. He was so sincere in other ways, too, with people associated with John.”