Ex-mayor told to resign after false marine claim

Greg Brackenridge had not received a green beret for 'passing out' as a Royal Marine commando, an investigation found

A former mayor has been told to resign from a city council, after falsely claiming he had served as a Royal Marine.

Greg Brackenridge was investigated by a City of Wolverhampton Council subcommittee in July and found to have breached a code of conduct for exaggerating his military service.

The Wednesfield South councillor had not completed the training and had not received a green beret for 'passing out' as a Royal Marine commando, the investigation discovered.

Brackenridge, who was absent from Wednesday's full council meeting, faced cross-party condemnation for his lies and for "watering down" a public apology.

Presenting the findings, Rita Potter said the ex-Labour councillor, who now sits as an independent, had not co-operated with the investigation "despite opportunities to do so" and the committee did not accept his revised apology.

The committee did not have powers to suspend him, she said.

Brackenridge made the false claims in 2021 during a speech when he unveiled a statue in Wednesfield to commemorate Sikh soldiers who died during the Battle of Saragarhi.

He had "given the impression" he had served as a Royal Marine when chairing the council's armed forces covenant board.

'Letting the city down'

Labour councillor Linda Leach said she was disappointed.

"I wish he'd have stepped down really but he didn't.

"I do wish he would do the right thing and step down."

Brackenridge's false claims were investigated by Labour last year.

He was then suspended from the party in July, after the council investigation found he had lied.

Labour council leader Stephen Simkins called for a law change to enforce stronger penalties on councillors who had broken the rules and said Brackenridge had "let the city down".

Conservative councillor Wendy Dalton called for the former mayor to resign, reading out a statement from a veteran which criticised Brackenridge for "let[ting] himself, his peers, his family and his service down" and called for him to "do the right thing".

Conservative leader Simon Bennett, who sat on the governance and ethics committee investigating the former mayor, said changes to the apology during the process questioned Brackenridge's "transparency".

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.