UK: London mayor Boris Johnson launched an investigation yesterday into allegations of sexual and financial misconduct against his deputy, the mayor's toughest political challenge since his election in May.
Full details of the charges against Ray Lewis have not yet been made public. But Mr Lewis, an ordained Church of England priest, dismissed the allegations as "complete rubbish".
"I have every confidence in Ray Lewis and I think he is a tremendous deputy mayor and a great asset to London," Mr Johnson said at a press conference flanked by Mr Lewis yesterday. He said his deputy would remain in office during the investigation.
Mr Lewis, asked by a reporter about unspecified "allegations of sexual misconduct", replied: "Those of you who know me well will know that I am not a saint, but I am also not the person painted by these allegations. I've never harassed anyone. I've never defrauded anyone."
Mr Lewis was barred from his ministry between 1999 and 2005 after working in the diocese of Chelmsford in the 1990s.
Chris Newlands, chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, confirmed that Mr Lewis had been barred from practising as a priest shortly after leaving the diocese, but gave no details of the reason for the ban.
"It would only happen if something had happened that was of such seriousness that the Archbishop that the person should not be able to exercise his ministry," he said.
After leaving Chelmsford, Mr Lewis worked as a priest in the Caribbean, an area not covered by the church ban.
- (Reuters)