The husband of a Labour MP has been accused of exaggerating his military service in the Royal Marines.
Greg Brackenridge, a local councillor and former mayor of Wolverhampton, has told voters he served as a commando but in fact never finished training, according to reports.
Cllr Brackenridge, 53 who is also the Chair of the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority, was previously pictured wearing a badge for veterans of the Iraq War from 1990 to 1991 and a Royal Marines Corps tie.
But he allegedly failed to complete the 32-week training in 1988 and left at the rank of recruit without earning his green beret, the Sun newspaper reported.
“Until you pass out, you’re still a recruit, you’re not really a Royal Marine,” a source told the newspaper.
His wife, Sureena Brackenridge won the Wolverhampton North East seat for Labour in July, and her son Ciaran also sits as a councillor.
When unveiling the statue of a Sikh soldier in Wolverhampton in September 2021, he told a journalist: “I served as a Royal Marine myself when I left school and I worked with members of the Sikh community in the Armed Forces and people from all around the world, the Nepalese, the Gurkhas.”
The Gorkhali are soldiers from Nepal who are recruited into the British Army.
In an interview with news website BirminghamLive this week he admitted to never serving “in battle or the front line” and that his career was prematurely cut short for “personal family reasons”.
He has also claimed his own personal military record held by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had been illegally accessed.
“I am formally requesting the MoD investigate these matters, and I’m in discussions with lawyers about the next steps,” he said.
A biography on the Wolverhampton Labour Group, which has since been deleted, reportedly repeated his claim of serving with the Royal Marines.
“It has been my honour to serve the people of Wednesfield over many years as your councillor and in my previous professional careers firstly with the Royal Marines and as a local firefighter with the West Midlands Service,” it is alleged to have read.
Cllr Brackenridge and Mrs Brackenridge have both been approached for comment.
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