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Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER

I, Robert P. Pinkas, Chief Executive Officer of
Brantley Capital Corporation, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this annual report on
Form 10-K of Brantley Capital Corporation;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does
not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the circumstances under which such statements were
made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial
statements, and other financial information included in this
report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrants other certifying
officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining
disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:



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| | (a) | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
    or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
    under our supervision, to ensure that material information
    relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
    subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
    entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
    being prepared;



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| | --- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | (b) | Evaluated the effectiveness of the
    registrants disclosure controls and procedures and
    presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
    of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
    period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and



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| | --- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | (c) | Disclosed in this report any change in the
    registrants internal control over financial reporting that
    occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal quarter
    (the registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
    annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
    likely to materially affect, the registrants internal
    control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrants other certifying
officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent
evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrants auditors and the audit committee of the
registrants board of directors (or persons performing the
equivalent functions):



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| | --- | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | (a) | All significant deficiencies and material
    weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
    financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely
    affect the registrants ability to record, process,
    summarize and report financial information; and



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| | --- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | (b) | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
    management or other employees who have a significant role in the
    registrants internal control over financial reporting.

Dated this 30th day of March, 2004.



| |     |                     
| | --- | --------------------
| | By: | /s/ ROBERT P. PINKAS

| |                        
| | -----------------------
| | Robert P. Pinkas       
| | Chief Executive Officer

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