THE diocese of Chelmsford has rebutted claims by officials of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, that it withheld information on the background of the Revd Ray Lewis, the former Deputy Mayor of London, who resigned last week, amid allegations of impropriety, and accusations and counter-accusations from both sides.
Mr Lewis, a Church of England priest who was Mr Johnson’s number two, and central in the campaign to reduce knife crime in London, served as Team Vicar of St Saviour’s, Forest Gate, and St Matthew’s, West Ham, in the diocese of Chelmsford, from 1993 to 1997.
He resigned as Deputy Mayor after it was revealed that he had wrongly claimed to be a magistrate, but denies a number of allegations of financial impropriety and inappropriate conduct during his time as a priest in East London.
The Revd Chris Newlands, chaplain to the Bishop of Chelmsford, confirmed that Mr Lewis had been placed on a Lambeth and Bishopthorpe register of clergy who had been disciplined, and that his ministry was restricted from 1999 to 2005. He could not give further details of the allegations contained in the file on Mr Lewis.
“We are required by law to protect the information on this file, but the fact is, he was placed on the Lambeth register, which is quite a severe level of restriction, and does indicate something quite serious is at the heart of it. It’s not for a minor breach of discipline.”
Mr Newlands strongly rejected accusations by the Mayor’s aides at City Hall, who had said that the diocese had “sat on the file” about Mr Lewis. “It’s the responsibility of an employer to take necessary references from a former employee; we wouldn’t be expected to be proactive on this.”
He said that the diocese was still considering what to do with its information about Mr Lewis. The Mayor’s office has decided to abandon an inquiry into the allegations against him, claiming that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.
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