Exit stage left, the proud Salford 'gobsh*te'

John Warmisham has served Salford for thirty-five years - from party political streetfighter to respected veteran councillor. He tells Neal Keeling he's lost none of his passion for justice.

You can tell a lot from someone's bookshelves and walls. An L.S. Lowry print, a Manchester United squad as Subbuteo players, Debbie Harry, and framed pictures of Our Lady hang in his flat.

There are photos of his grandchildren everywhere. A small poster of Argentine Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara, is close to The Living Bible and Ben Pimlott's praised biography of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Next to a chair is a copy of The Morning Star.

But this is a minute snapshot of the life of Salford Labour party political streetfighter turned respected veteran councillor, John Warmisham. He admits he was a "gobshite" from a very early age. His aura of experience has failed to extinguish the maverick in him.

Next year he will notch up 35 years as a councillor and intends to step down after being at the centre of three tumultuous decades for his city. In that time it has emerged from being a byword for violence and gangsterism to one of staggering achievements - The Lowry arts centre, Media City UK, and colossal regeneration of inner-city districts which were bleak, ugly, and unfit for human habitation in the late 80s and early 90s.

This week he caused a local political tremor by resigning from what he calls the "immoral" Labour Party after being a member for 40 years. He accused the party of "losing its moral compass" under the leadership of Keir Starmer.

In a letter to Salford's City Mayor, Paul Dennett, explaining his decision he says: "I feel I have no option but to resign from the Labour Party, a party that through this current national leadership has lost its moral compass and no longer represents the communities that it was set up to serve."

He adds in the letter: "Cutting the welfare benefits to the disabled, the sick, the poor and the vulnerable, whilst committing billions of pounds to arms and supporting wars is immoral, as well as government ministers pushing pensioners, families and children further into poverty.

"This in no way reflects on you or the Labour Group who have stuck and continue to do so, to the socialist principles that the Labour Party was founded on.

"I will continue to serve my current term of office out as an Independent Socialist and represent the people of Pendleton and Charlestown Ward, who I care for very much, in the city I love."

The first time I met him was in 1991 on a grassy knoll in front of the city's then notorious Brindle Heath flats. They were in council ownership and were a shameful stain on the city's housing stock. Neglected, dank, a half empty shell, and poorly lit warren of homes in which a dwindling few lived in misery.

Fresh-faced and as keen as mustard, as the newly elected councillor for Pendleton he met for a chat and a photograph. His aim was simple: he wanted the block demolished.

He was not afraid to speak out that day at the inertia of his own council. It is a principle he has maintained throughout his political career.

His embrace of socialism began not long after he was out of the cradle. A self-confessed truant, at 14 he was working on a building site "I was big for my age"; at 16 he was a shop steward for the apprentices employed at Manchester Direct Works; at 17 he was married.

He rebelled aged eight against his father who was a member of the The Plymouth Brethren, a conservative, nonconformist evangelical Christian movement, originated in Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s, emphasizing the Bible as the sole authority and viewing themselves as a network of independent churches rather than a denomination.

He refused to go to church and Sunday school and told his father he was now an atheist. Yet, at the age of 23, he converted to Roman Catholicism - a faith he still has, attending St Chad's church in Cheetham Hill.

"At 16 I was at Direct Works as an apprentice painter and decorator. I was already interested in politics and amongst the gang of lads I was working with was a shop steward who on my first day said I had to join the union - UCCAT. We were involved in strikes straight away. (The aftermath of 24 pickets in Shrewsbury being arrested in 1972).

"At 16 I became the shop steward for the apprentices. It suited me because I loved trade unionism and the history of it. I was a voice for the apprentices. You can imagine what it was like for apprentices then - shit on from a great height.

"UCCAT at that time was quite close to the communist party, and some of my mates were in it. I dabbled with it - went to a few meetings. Through the TUC we did trade union education where I learned a lot."

He was at Manchester Direct Works for 16 years and a shop steward throughout his time. But an acute bout of asthma caused by working on a fire-damaged property in Moss Side ended that job. "I got a gob full of soot, went off on the sick, and was then told I couldn't stay in this game anymore.

"At that time health and safety wasn't the best and you were working with all these different chemicals in enclosed spaces, and some of the flats in Hulme and Moss Side had asbestos."

A career switch was required. Voluntary work he had been doing at Prestwich psychiatric hospital led to a job as a support worker for a charity at a unit for people living with schizophrenia in Longsight.

It was a challenging job. "That's why I've a shaved head. I was attacked many times, and the first thing they did was grab your hair.

"After working in mental health for ten years you get a bit burnt out. So I went to work in a hostel which was for 16 to 19 year olds who were homeless. That was in Burnage."

He became a councillor in 1991. Pragmatism was already working hand in hand with his Communist beliefs. He had become a residents' association spokesman for the Wiltshire Street area of Higher Broughton.

He was recruited by then Labour councillor, the late Bernard Murphy, who would become ceremonial mayor, to deliver his leaflets during an election. "Because I liked him I joined the Labour Party. About a month before the 1991 election the councillor for Pendleton died (Joe Thomas) and I was shortlisted, then elected."

To make an impact his politics shifted from the hard left. "At that time when you could see what the Tories were doing to Salford with Thatcher, the only way of fighting her was by being in the Labour Party.

"I have been very lucky. I have always got on with people but always been prepared to speak my mind. As a kid I was a gobshite. I really got on with Bill Hinds the then leader of the ruling Labour group as we both came from the same political thought. He has been a great friend and mentor."

His rise in Salford's "White House", the nickname for Swinton Civic Centre, was rapid. He was soon deputy chairman of education, and then became chair after Hinds was ousted as leader by education chairman, John Merry.

He gave him a taste of the ruthless nature of politics. "It was a terrible time. I was a friend of John and Billy was a mentor. I felt awful going against Bill. But I thought he had had long enough and times were changing in Salford, and John had a bit more of a vision."

From education he moved to chair of housing and then chair of social services - all big portfolios. But after becoming a member of the European Congress of Local and Regional Authorities he switched to chair of the city's licensing committee.

"Being able to set up Sure Start Centres in Salford while chair of education under the Blair government was a highlight - giving Salford families a good start in life. It was a tragedy when they were closed down by David Cameron."

He does not deny that in the 90s some Salford schools were near the bottom of league tables worked out on the basis of how many children got five A to C GCSEs,

"It was frustrating. The staff at schools were doing their utmost but Salford had been blighted by Thatcher's cuts and her stance about there being no such thing as society. Some of the national press were attacking northern towns like Salford, Manchester, and Liverpool, because they were Labour strongholds. The schools were underfunded because they were in a Labour authority."

The irony is not lost on him that the old Broadwalk Primary School in Salford was opened by Margaret Thatcher when she was Education Minister. "There used to be a plaque which I said I wanted taking down, but I was told I couldn't do that."

As housing chairman he was there at the start of a radical comeback for the city which by the 90s had poor housing stock and no cash to improve it. "Obviously the Right to Buy had taken off and you were looking at the transfer of our council housing stock to housing associations as the only way to get funding for repairs. We did get Estate Action money for improvements around Salford Precinct.

"The mix on the council who are mainly Salford people have seen what needed to be done - it was like a second slum clearance but not on the scale of the 1960s one. Flats and houses had been built that were not good enough for Salford people - like Brindle Heath. Like maisonettes on the Sorbus Close are of Salford and others across the city.

"We knew we had to do something to improve people's lives and give them a quality of life. Because we couldn't get any money to do the Salford Precinct and Pendleton area we had to do PFI (Private Finance Initiative) which was totally against my principles. It still galls me, but it was the only game in town. It was sad we had to go down that line and of course it led to the cladding issues."

He witnessed the transformation of derelict docklands into Salford Quays and Media City UK. "The thing for me that really kicked off the regeneration there was the Millennium project - the opening of the Lowry Arts Centre in 2000. Then the BBC and ITV and other specialist media companies came. There are more people employed around Media City than when the docks were there.

"There are so many people living there now we had to have a boundary review. In the Salford Precinct area too you are seeing regeneration with new houses."

In terms of his Salford DNA he is as authentic as John Cooper Clarke, Mike Sweeney, and Kingfisher Chippie on The Precinct. He was born at home - 43 Turner Street in Higher Broughton - and lives in Broughton Park now.

"I care about the city right up to Irlam and Cadishead and have good mates up there. I am desperate for something to happen in Eccles, and parts of Swinton." Referring to the empty, 1969, former Lancastrian Hall and Central Library building which still dominates Swinton town centre he says: "You could argue it is brutalist and modernist architecture, and some people would fight to save it. But I think we should start again and take it down - people deserve better."

"It breaks my heart to see the way Eccles has declined. It used to be a thriving little centre. I am pleased that nearby Monton has become trendy and popular with its bars, but it seems at the expense of Eccles."

Regarding his darkest days as a public servant, he does not hesitate. While he was chair of social services the death of a two-year-old child who was murdered by a 15-year-old babysitter in July 2008 was the subject of intense scrutiny. Concerns about the child's welfare before her death had been raised by family and neighbours with police and social services.

The case resulted in the then director of social services being sacked. They claimed they had been made a "scapegoat" but lost an appeal for unfair dismissal. An Ofsted report published in August 2009 found that safeguarding of children in the city – the monitoring and care of children living in the community but at risk of neglect or abuse – was inadequate.

"I as lead member did not know a thing about it. I had not been told or briefed. It was horrible and I offered my resignation because I felt bad about it."

He has represented Pendleton and Langworthy as a councillor, saying his greatest feat is "being re-elected". "As a Salford lad I am proud and privileged to be elected so many times. There have been big issues and big campaigns, but the small things can be a big issue in people's lives. If you are an elderly person who is worried about your sink flooding, that is a crisis, and my job is about helping those sorts of people."

He is a member of the city's planning panel and is "not happy" about the unabated march of new apartment blocks in areas like Ordsall, Trinity, and Greengate. "I have different views to some of the people on the panel. The problem you have is planning law. We could refuse a lot of the tower blocks but it would go straight to a government minister who would allow it on appeal, and it would have cost us and the people of Salford hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees. If you don't have good material reasons to refuse permission you are on a hiding to nothing."

He adds: "But you look at some of the design and finishes on the buildings and they are like prison boxes. They are awful, and in my view the skyline is abysmal. We need more family homes. How long are people going to live in these apartments? I don't think it is healthy upbringing for children to be in tower blocks. They need a garden and spaces to play."

He welcomes his council's new version of council houses although only about 400 have been built so far in the last few years. "City Mayor, Paul Dennett, is an old style socialist. He has seen the need and knows that a affordable housing, social housing, council housing is what is required."

With his street-wise nous he is all too aware that Salford continues to be tarnished by crime - including gun crime. He accepts that from the Scuttlers - working class youth gangs of the late 19th century - to the present day gangs are part of the fabric of the city.

"When I was a kid growing up in Broughton you had gangs. They have been around Ordsall too because of the docks. What has changed is that there is more money involved in drugs, protection, and the sex trade, and to get a piece of it you may have to shoot somebody. Whereas before it would have been a kicking and baseball bats. Some of it is from the Americanisation of this country. Kids are being brought up on video games where it is all shooting - some are trying to live the games they are playing.

"The other issue is how people are sucked into gangs - if you are a low achieving kid, or through peer pressure. Salford kids can be parochial - not going outside their own area. That is something we are trying to break down.. So we can bus kids in from Little Hulton to Pendleton to say we have this fantastic facility (The new Youth Zone) and we want you to use it."

In his time he has seen the once physically bleak city improve. "I think we are more multicultural after always being seen as a white working class city. But we have always had immigrants because of the docks - and the Irish because of the navies who came to build the Ship Canal. We even had Sioux American Natives setting up camp next to the Irwell in 1887 as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus. We have always been a welcoming city, for example with the Jewish community."

Last year he had a triple heart by-pass and a valve replaced, which has influenced his decision to step down as a councillor. He has three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild with whom he wants to spend more time. But adds: "The other thing is I can't stand this Labour Party. The way they are going about sorting out welfare is wrong. I am a pacifist and I think it is immoral to use money meant for overseas aid for arms. I am a proud socialist and the Labour Party is not socialist anymore. It has gone too far to the right.

"Salford is a socialist council. We went into our reserves to pay Winter Fuel Allowance to people entitled to it when the national party stopped it. But I could not go and knock on someone's door and ask them to vote Labour at the moment."

For 12 years he has served on the European Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. He became chair of the UK delegation. For that work he was sounded out by the Foreign Office who asked another senior official at the Congress if John would accept an honour from King Charles III. "I think the Royal family should be gotten rid off. I am a Republican, so I refused." He also switched his life-long allegiance to Manchester United to FC United after the Glazer brothers took over the Reds.

At the age of 23 he converted to Catholicism. "I read the gospels and thought - this is socialism." He tells of one constituent he helped. His actions sum up the kind of man he is.

"We used to do an advice bureau on a Saturday at the old Broadwalk Library on the Precinct. One day this woman came in and she sat there unable to speak. She eventually started to cry, and said "my husband's battering me".

"It was 1991, I had just been elected and I had never dealt with domestic violence before. She was desperate to get a flat of her own, she just wanted away. I explained the situation to the housing manager. She saw me on Saturday and by Monday we had a flat for her. I have never seen a woman so happy and changed. It resonated with me that, yes, I can make a difference."