London mayor: Johnson forced to remove his deputy mayor after magistrate claim proves false

When Boris Johnson unveiled his first appointment in the afterglow of his victory over Ken Livingstone, the arrival of Ray Lewis on London's political scene was widely acclaimed as a shrewd and farsighted move. The youth worker, who advocated tough love and strict discipline for the capital's wayward teenagers, seemed the perfect foil for the Etonian desperate to improve his reputation among London's ethnic minority communities. But when Lewis resigned last night amid allegations of financial misconduct and inappropriate behaviour following a Guardian investigation, the heady days of early May were a distant memory. It was the culmination of a series of exchanges that began on Wednesday when the Guardian approached the mayor's office with a list of questions about Lewis' past. On Thursday, Johnson declared he had "every... [read full story]