THE Conservative Party was last night still reeling from the resignation of Boris Johnson's deputy amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour and financial irregularities.
Ray Lewis was forced to step down on Friday after the London Mayor decided he could no longer offer him the "backing necessary to continue", having been misled over his role as a magistrate.
Labour big-hitters seized on the resignation, suggestin
g it raised questions not only for the Mayor but for Conservative leader David Cameron.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears MP said: "People across the country will note that after just two months, the new Tory administration in London is in complete disarray.
"David Cameron has known Ray Lewis since his first day as Tory leader and Boris Johnson appointed him as deputy mayor days into the job. People will ask themselves, how have they allowed themselves to be embroiled in a mess like this?"
On Thursday it emerged that the deputy mayor was facing multiple claims relating to his time as a priest and as founder of an academy for young people.
They relate to alleged inappropriate behaviour with a parishioner in the late Nineties and while at the Eastside Young Leaders Academy, a youth scheme founded by Lewis in 2003.
Separate claims of financial irregularity centre on money entrusted to the deputy mayor while he was a priest.
An independent inquiry was launched in City Hall into the allegations on Friday. Lewis was forced to step down after it emerged that the Mayor had been misled about him being a serving justice of the peace.
In a City Hall statement yesterday, Lewis said that the "seeming duplicity" over his role as a magistrate – he has been recommended but not actually appointed – was the main reason for his resignation.
A spokesman for Cameron said: "David fully supports Boris's decision. He has acted quickly and fairly in dealing with this unfortunate and difficult matter."
Johnson said he accepted Lewis's resignation with "extreme reluctance". But he added: "I cannot deny, however, that my confidence in Ray was shaken by the discovery today that he is not a fully fledged justice of the peace and I cannot deny that to be misled on this issue has made it harder for me to give Ray the backing necessary to continue in his role as deputy mayor."
The full article contains 394 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
