John Prescott emerged as one of the clear winners of yesterday's reshuffle - defying critics who suggested his advancing years and the recent revelation that he suffers from diabetes would mean his days in government were numbered.

Given a new department - the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister - to go with his new powers for local government and the regions, Prescott will oversee the legislation creating elected regional assemblies in England.

But Gordon Keymer, a key figure in the Tory local government arena, said: "Giving John Prescott responsibility for local government and the regions is rather like putting a drunk in charge of a brewery."