'Do the right thing': Councillors across Wolverhampton's political divide call for 'stolen valour' ex-mayor to quit

Councilor Greg Brackenridge, who was found to have breached the code of conduct in July after wrongly claiming to have served as a Royal Marine, was roundly criticised by both Labour and Conservative colleagues at a meeting of Wolverhampton Council last night.

Sign up to our free daily Wolverhampton newsletter for the latest news, views and features

Councillor Brackenridge, who did not attend the meeting, was also criticised for failing to comply with the ethics and governance sub-committee's demand for a public apology.

Councillor Linda Leach, Labour member for Bilston North, said the scandal emerged during her own term as mayor.

"I had to listen to our veterans and how disappointed they were," she said.

"It's terrible for me to talk about a colleague, however, I am so disappointed in him. 

"I wish he did step down, but he didn't. I think he should have done the decent thing by everybody in this city, especially the veterans, and stepped down.

"We've all been tarnished with it. We come into this to look after everyone, and I don't feel as though Councillor Brackenridge has looked after anyone apart from himself, so I do wish he would do the right thing and step down."

Councillor Simon Bennett, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said every member of the council had paid a price for Councillor Brackenridge's conduct.

"This issue does not only concern the individual involved, it casts a shadow over this entire chamber," he said. 

"Every councillor here is judged by the actions of our colleagues. Incidents like this risk tainting the  reputation and integrity of all of us."

Councillor Bennett said the public also deserved answers from Councillor Brackenridge's wife, Wolverhampton North East MP Sureena Brackenridge, regarding what she knew and when.  

Councillor Wendy Dalton read out a letter she had received from a veteran, saying that the ethos of the military was based on integrity, loyalty and honesty.

"The feelings among many within the veteran community is that Councillor Brackenridge has let himself, his peers, his family and his service down," she said.

"The feeling is he should do the right thing and resign. I echo this, and ask for his resignation." 

Council leader Councillor Stephen Simkins said he endorsed all the comments that had been made in the chamber

"I want to make it clear that when this decision was made, the Labour group chose to suspend Councillor Brackenridge, and he now sits as an independent, and nothing to do with the Labour council," he said.

"We have a tradition in Britain where you are innocent until proven guilty, that's one of our greatest traditions, and we acted within less than 24 hours to come to a decision."

Councillor Simkins said there need to be a change in the law that allowed more meaningful penalties to be issued on councillors who had broken the rules, blaming deregulation in the Localism Act 2011.

Councillor Rita Potter, chairman of the governance and ethics committee, told the meeting that Councillor Brackenridge had found to have been in breach of the code of conduct over his claims to have been a former Royal Marine when he never completed the required training.

She said the committee had used all the powers at its disposal, and had instructed him to make a formal apology. Councillor Brackenridge did offer an apology, but the words fell short of what the committee had instructed.