Boris Johnson has confounded doubts about his capability to be London mayor by making some interesting appointments in his first couple of weeks. In particular he has recruited Ray Lewis as deputy mayor with responsibility for young people. Ray is a former prison governor and founder of the East Side Young Leaders Academy and clearly has a track record in empowering and raising the aspirations of young people from marginalised backgrounds. He also challenges all the stereotypes you might have about the sort of person that might hold high office for the Conservative party.
I had the opportunity to meet Ray a few times when doing some work for the body created to advise David Cameron on Youth Policy . He is clearly a man of great integrity and I am sure that his no-nonsense and challenging attitude will inspire young people who might otherwise drift to the margins of society. It will be interesting to see how he shapes the brief over the weeks and months to come.