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A former councillor, trade unionist and “voice for the voiceless” in Islington has died aged 79.

John Worker was born in Arundel Square, off Liverpool Road, in 1936 and lived his whole life in the borough.

Dedicated to improving the lives of ordinary people, Mr Worker was a well-known face in the Barnsbury area after moving to the Priory Green estate when he married his wife June in 1956. The couple had two children, Karen and Roy.

He worked in a shoe shop before getting a job in the British Library, where he was a branch secretary of the trade union.

In the mid-1960s, the then Finsbury Council began closing community facilities on the Priory Green estate despite protests from residents. Mr Worker became involved in the tenants association, and when councillors on Islington Council blocked improvement works in the early 1980s, he was outraged. As a result, four Priory Green residents, including Mr Worker, stood for election and were successful.

A councillor for two terms (1982-1986 and 1986-1990), Mr Worker served on the social services, planning and recreational committees, and was deputy chairman of the housing committee.

In the late 1990s, he was staunchly opposed to the stock transfer of his estate to the Peabody Trust. He eventually mellowed in his attitudes but lamented the lost sense of community encouraged by the Thatcher government’s right-to-buy policy.

Barnsbury ward councillor Mouna Hamitouche, who first met Mr Worker when she moved to London more than 25 years ago, said: “One of the first things I did when I moved to this great borough was visit the Town Hall.

“It was on this visit that I first met John, who was very welcoming and helpful and wasted no time in proudly letting me know that our council was run by the Labour Party. As someone who was new to the country and the language, his warmth motivated me to settle in Islington. Since then, John became a friend. He was principled, kind-hearted and someone of the highest integrity.”

Mr Worker remained passionate about attending council meetings and raising issues important to people. Still committed to his socialist principles, he was hoping to see Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn become the next Prime Minister.

Mr Worker, a member of Islington Pensioners’ Forum, loved reading and music and remained independent into the final years of his life despite his cancer diagnosis. He frequently visited his seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

He died on Sunday at St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney.