Councillor who claimed to have been Royal Marine resigns

A Wolverhampton councillor and former mayor, who was found to have falsely claimed he had served as a Royal Marine, has stepped down.

City of Wolverhampton Council confirmed that Greg Brackenridge, councillor for Wednesfield South, had resigned his seat.

He was investigated by the authority's subcommittee in July and found to have breached a code of conduct for exaggerating his military service.

The BBC has tried to contact Brackenridge for comment.

He was elected as the mayor of Wolverhampton in 2021 and used to represent Labour, before more recently sitting as an independent.

He had 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.

But, the investigation last year heard that Brackenridge was found to have not completed the training and had not received a green beret for "passing out" as a Royal Marine commando.

The panel also said he had "given the impression" that he had served as a Royal Marine while chairing the council's Armed Forces Covenant Board.

At the time, he faced faced cross-party condemnation for his behaviour and for "watering down" a public apology.

A city of Wolverhampton Council spokesperson said: "We confirm that Councillor Greg Brackenridge has resigned his seat and we have, in line with the law placed a notice of vacancy on our website.

"We anticipate that the election to fill his seat will be held on 7 May 2026 along with the 20 other seats being contested at the upcoming election."

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