The last remaining candidate to chair the grooming gang inquiry has withdrawn from contention, plunging the probe into fresh chaos.
Jim Gamble, a former police officer, took his name out of the running on Wednesday after survivors raised concerns that those under consideration to chair the probe had links to the police or social services.
It comes a day after Annie Hudson – another candidate for the role who was a former director of children’s services for Lambeth – withdrew her name, leaving the government scrambling for alternatives.
Sir Keir Starmer had earlier hauled in Baroness Louise Casey to “support” the work of the struggling probe after four women from the inquiry’s victims and survivors panel resigned, claming a “toxic environment”. They also claimed there were proposals to widen the scope of the inquiry.
In a letter to the home secretary, Mr Gamble said that there was a “highly charged and toxic environment that has surrounded and influenced the appointment process”.
He also said that “among some” victims and survivors there is a “lack of confidence due to my previous occupation exists”.
Mr Gamble went on: “The reaction to the appointment process has been defined more by the vested interests of some, as well as political opportunism and point-scoring, rather than by the cross-party consensus required to address such a serious national issue.
“Victims and survivors, who have been let down so often in the past, deserve better than to be used as leverage for short-term gain by anyone. Moving forward. I hope they remain at the absolute centre of this inquiry.”
A Home Office spokesperson said they were “disappointed” that candidates had withdrawn.
During prime minister’s questions, Sir Keir had attempted to salvage the struggling probe by announcing that Baroness Casey was being brought in to “support the work” of the inquiry, which he said would “get to the truth”.
He told MPs that “injustice will have no place to hide”, adding that the “door will always be open” to those survivors who quit the probe’s survivors’ panel, should they wish to return.
Responding to Kemi Badenoch, Sir Keir said: “The inquiry is not and will never be watered down. Its scope will not change.”
Baroness Casey previously led a “national audit” of group-based child sexual exploitation that found “many examples” of organisations shying away from discussion of “ethnicity or cultural factors” in such offences “for fear of appearing racist”.
Her findings, published in June 2025, prompted Sir Keir to order the creation of the national inquiry.
The Home Office spokesperson said on Wednesday: “The grooming gang scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history.
“That is why this government is committed to a full, statutory, national inquiry to uncover the truth. It is the very least that the victims of these hideous crimes deserve.
“We are disappointed that candidates to chair that inquiry have withdrawn. This is an extremely sensitive topic, and we have to take the time to appoint the best person suitable for the role.
“The home secretary has been clear: there will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society.”