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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Deputy mayor resigns from office | Deputy mayor resigns from office |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| London's deputy mayor has resigned two months into his post amid claims of financial irregularities. | London's deputy mayor has resigned two months into his post amid claims of financial irregularities. |
| Ray Lewis faced allegations regarding his time as a vicar in east London in the late 1990s and head of a youth academy scheme in 2003. | Ray Lewis faced allegations regarding his time as a vicar in east London in the late 1990s and head of a youth academy scheme in 2003. |
| It emerged he was placed under formal Church of England disciplinary measures between 1999 and 2005. | It emerged he was placed under formal Church of England disciplinary measures between 1999 and 2005. |
| Mr Lewis, who had special responsibility for youth, described the claims as groundless and rubbish. | Mr Lewis, who had special responsibility for youth, described the claims as groundless and rubbish. |
| London Mayor Boris Johnson appointed Mr Lewis as one of several deputy mayors with special portfolios, such as business and policing. | London Mayor Boris Johnson appointed Mr Lewis as one of several deputy mayors with special portfolios, such as business and policing. |
| Mr Lewis said: "I cannot allow the things going on around me to obscure the important business of this very important mayoralty and for that reason I must step down with immediate affect. | |
| "London faces enormous challenges and I believed in all my heart that I was best placed to do that, but it's important to get on with the business of this mayoralty without this business hanging over Boris' head. | |
| "Yet today again we learn of another murder and yet so much time and attention's been given over to something that may or may not have happened 10-12 years ago, and of course you know that I flatly deny it." | |
| Mr Lewis resigned the same day Mr Johnson formally opened an independent inquiry into the allegations. | |
| Martin Narey, the former chief of the Prison and Probation Service, will be heading the probe. | |
| It is now unclear how the inquiry will progress. |