By Benedict Brogan
Daily Mail
July 5, 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031848/Tory-turmoil-Mayor-Boris-Johnson-forced-axe-deputy-lied-past.html
The Tories suffered an embarrassing setback last night after Boris Johnson was forced to sack his deputy for lying about his past.
Ray Lewis, a charismatic community leader, was dumped after what looked like a catastrophic misjudgment by the new London mayor.
A torrent of allegations about Mr Lewis, covering sexual misconduct, financial wheeler- dealing and physical abuse of pupils threatened to tarnish the Tory success story.
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| Under fire: Boris Johnson (right) has 'reluctantly accepted' the resignation of his deputy Ray Lewis (left) |
Mr Johnson had tried to defend his deputy, but was forced to backtrack after it emerged that Mr Lewis had wrongly passed himself off as a magistrate.
The announcement capped a day of chaos that was in danger of tainting David Cameron, following lurid tales of Mr Lewis's time as an Anglican-priest.
The Tories had hoped that Mr Johnson had shed his reputation for blunders, and had become a serious politician committed to the responsibilities of his office.
But the controversy over Mr Lewis will revive fears among MPs that Mr Johnson is a liability who could derail what was beginning to look like the Tory leader's triumphant march to power.
Just two months ago, Mr Cameron embraced Mr Johnson as a symbol of the newfound popularity of the Conservatives.
Critics pointed out that Mr Cameron was also an enthusiastic backer of Mr Lewis' work as a community leader, praising him as an 'inspirational leader'.
But there were signs that his office intervened to end the crisis after the Ministry of Justice said it had no record of Mr Lewis as a magistrate.
Last night Mr Johnson's reputation for taking risks was seen as a growing liability among Tories uneasy about the way he is running his administration.
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| The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, pictured after the news yesterday |
His decision to call a press conference on Thursday with Mr Lewis was seen to have backfired, after it became clear he was not aware of the scale of the charges against his deputy.
Mr Lewis was Mr Johnson's first big appointment as mayor. But he faced having his work on youth crime brought to a halt by the investigation into his background.
The Mail discovered that Mr Lewis faced two complaints of sexual misconduct with vulnerable parishioners.
He was accused of having sexual relations with two vulnerable parishioners when he was vicar of St. Matthew's church, in West Ham, East London, in the Nineties.
The women involved, who turned to him for private pastoral advice, did not contact police about the incidents, however they are understood to have informed the diocesan authorities.
The sexual allegations, which Mr Lewis denies, led to him being banned from preaching for six years.
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| Former prison governor Ray Lewis was one of the mayor's first big appointments |
It emerged that two bishops wrote to Mr Johnson in May to warn him Mr Lewis had been removed as a priest - a revelation that threatened to drag the mayor into the controversy.
The party leadership had been privately critical of the mayor's decision to appear alongside Mr Lewis at the news conference on Thursday.
'We don't have a clue whether these allegations are true or not, and they just have to deal with it. This is the risk you take when you stand by someone,' a source said.
In a statement, Mr Lewis said the 'drip, drip' of allegations was 'getting in the way of the very important work of this mayor and his vision for London'.
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He thanked Mr Johnson for giving him the opportunity to serve London but said: 'I cannot allow the things that I have been into, up to and around me to obscure the important business of this mayoral team.
He said Mr Johnson had 'reluctantly accepted' the resignation.
Mr Lewis has denied as 'rubbish' allegations that he was removed as an Anglican priest following financial and sexual misconduct.
He said he knew nothing about the allegations until they were put to him by the media on Thursday. But it emerged that Mr Johnson's office took legal action to prevent the reports coming to light last week.
There was further embarrassment when the Ministry of Justice contradicted Mr Lewis' insistence that he was magistrate.
Mr Lewis explained that this is a 'misunderstanding' and that he has been officially asked to become a magistrate, but that the formal process is not yet completed.
Yesterday Mr Lewis said: 'None of the what has been levelled against me is true.'
In relation to the sex claims, he said: 'I absolutely did not do it. This is the first I have heard of it.'
Mr Lewis, who is married with three daughters, has been accused of serious financial misconduct, plus charges of assaulting children in his care.
As vicar of St. Matthew's, he borrowed ?25,000 from parishioner Mary Massey - and gave her a handwritten I.O.U. in exchange.
Soon after taking the money he moved to Grenada in the Caribbean. Mrs Massey, now 72, became worried she would not see the money again.
She complained to the church authorities and to the police. Mrs Massey says it was not until 2005 that he paid all the money back.
It has also been reported that it around the same time Mr Lewis failed to repay ?8,000 he borrowed from a parishioner with learning difficulties and another ?8,000 he took from a Nigerian divinity student.
Between 2003 and 2008 he was also accused of five charges of common assault and one charge of child cruelty on boys attending his Eastside Young Leader Academy.
On Thursday the Rt Rev John Gladwin, Bishop of Chelmsford confirmed that Mr Lewis was banned from preaching between 1999 and 2005 because of 'a serious misdemeanour'.
The Bishop had intended to say much more - but was prevented from doing so by legal threats from the Mayor of London's office.
Mr Johnson announced yesterday that the official inquiry into Mr Lewis' actions will be headed by the former chief inspector of prisons Martin Narey.
It is expected to take three to four weeks.
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