The fact that it's taken up to now for Johnson and his team to find someone to fill Lewis' shoes may indicate how badly they want to avoid a repeat performance. The person they hope will be a scandal-free rock of stability is 39-year-old James Cleverly, digital publisher, ex-Territorial Army Major and Conservative London Assembly member for Bexley and Bromley.
It's clear from the outset that Cleverly is a rather more conciliatory character than Lewis, who ran the disciplinarian Eastside Young Leaders' Academy and was openly dismissive of liberal approaches to dealing with youth problems.
He says his way of tackling the problem of youth crime will be to work collaboratively with many different organisations. "There are thousands of good people all over London, doing brilliant work. At no point am I going to turn round and say, 'No, you are doing it wrong, you have to do it like this.'"
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