A panel has upheld a complaint that Councillor Ty Galvin broke the code of conduct and recommended censure. Full Council will consider its recommendations.

A Brighton & Hove City Council panel has found that Councillor Ty Galvin breached the code of conduct, and has recommended that he be formally censured. The Standards Panel met on 30 October. The council announced the outcome on 3 November.

The complaint came from another councillor. It concerned his conduct at a University of Sussex graduation event on 25 July 2025, which he attended as Deputy Mayor. Reports of other inappropriate comments towards women were investigated alongside it, by an external investigating officer.

What the panel found

The decision notice records that the panel:

  • decided that “on balance it was more likely than not” that he had touched the complainant inappropriately, and that this was intentional
  • found he had failed to treat her with respect, contrary to the code
  • found he had sexually harassed her, contrary to the code
  • found he had brought his office and the authority into disrepute
  • found staff witnesses and a prospective councillor “consistent and credible”

Those witnesses described “a pattern of inappropriate, sexually suggestive and unwanted comments”, the notice says.

The panel was applying the council’s code of conduct. It is not a court, and this is not a criminal finding.

The sanctions

The panel will write recommending that he apologises to the complainant. The Monitoring Officer will offer him training. It also recommends that Full Council:

  • does not appoint him to any body to which it makes appointments
  • formally censures him
  • removes him from all committees and subcommittees

The recommendations do not remove him as a councillor. The notice gives no date for Full Council to consider them. Full Council’s next listed meeting is on 26 November.

His response and the right of appeal

The notice records that he gave evidence and was represented at the hearing, but does not set out his account. Both he and the complainant have a right of appeal under the council’s arrangements.

Most of the hearing was held in private. The panel said the sensitive evidence and the junior status of staff witnesses outweighed the general public interest in transparency, and that a decision notice would be published in any event. It heard representations from a local news outlet on the question first.

We will publish any response Councillor Galvin wishes to make.

What it means for you

This is a decision about how an elected councillor behaved in office, and Full Council has the next say on the recommendations. We will report what it decides, and any appeal.