Lembit Öpik

Lembit Öpik
Lib Dems Spokesperson for Housing
In office 20 December 2007 – 24 September 2008
Leader	Brodie Hoyle
Preceded by	Paul Holmes
Succeeded by	Sarah Teather
Lib Dems Spokesperson for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
In office 4 July 2007 – 20 December 2007
Leader	Menzies Campbell
Preceded by	Susan Kramer
Succeeded by	Sarah Teather
Lib Dems Spokesperson for Wales and Lib Dems Spokesperson for Northern Ireland
In office 15 May 2003 – 4 July 2007
Leader	Charles Kennedy Menzies Campbell
Succeeded by	Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dems Spokesperson for Northern Ireland) Roger Williams (Lib Dem Spokesperson for Wales)
Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire
In office 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Alex Carlile
Succeeded by	Glyn Davies
Personal details
Born	(1965-03-02) 2 March 1965 Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Nationality	British
Political party	Welsh Liberal Democrats
Domestic partner	Gabriela Irimia (2006-2008)
Alma mater	University of Bristol

Lembit Öpik addressing the 2008 Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in Liverpool

Lembit Öpik (/ˈlɛmbɪt ˈoʊpɪk/, Finnish pronunciation: [ˈlembit ˈøpˑik]; born 2 March 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election. He served as the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 2001-07, and stood unsuccessfully for the position of president of the party in 2004 and 2008.

He put himself forward as the Liberal Democrats' nomination as Mayor of London in the 2012 election. However, he secured just 252 votes, coming fourth.

Early life

Öpik's parents were from Estonia, but after its annexation by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, they fled to Northern Ireland. Öpik was born in Bangor, County Down, the elder son of Liivi Opik (née Vedo) and physicist Dr Uno Opik (19 October 1926 - 6 May 2005), and grew up there with sister Urve Öpik (born 1960, a psychotherapist) and brother Endel "Tal" Opik (12 April 1968 – 21 November 2005, a musician). His grandfather was Ernst Julius Öpik, an Estonian astronomer who worked at Armagh Observatory.

Öpik was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and later took a degree in philosophy at the University of Bristol. While at university he served as President of the University of Bristol Union (1985-86), and as a member of the National Executive of the National Union of Students (1987-88). It was during this time that he added the heavy metal umlaut to his surname.

In 1988 Öpik joined Procter & Gamble in Newcastle upon Tyne as a brand assistant. In 1991 he became Corporate Training and Organisation Development Manager, and was promoted to be Global Human Resources Training Manager in 1996. Öpik was elected to the Liberal Democrats' Federal Executive Committee in 1991.

Öpik stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for Newcastle upon Tyne Central in the 1992 general election, and for Northumbria in the 1994 European Parliament elections. He was elected as a councillor on Newcastle City Council in 1992.

Member of Parliament

At the 1997 general election, the Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, Alex Carlile, retired. Öpik retained the seat at the 2001 general election and at the 2005 general election, increasing his share of the vote by 3.5% in 2001 and by a further 1.8% in 2005, giving him a majority of 7,173 over the Conservative Party. He lost his seat to the Conservative Party's Glyn Davies following an unexpected 13.2% swing to the Conservatives in Montgomeryshire at the 2010 general election.

Öpik served as the Liberal Democrat spokesman on education (1997), Northern Ireland (1997-2007), Wales (2001-07), business (2007), and housing (2007-08).

During the 2001-05 Parliament, Öpik was a member of the Agriculture Select Committee in the House of Commons. He was the joint chair of the Middle Way Group, a cross-party parliamentary group which supported the regulation, rather than the banning, of fox hunting.

Welsh party leadership

Öpik became leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in 2001 following the retirement of Richard Livsey. He stood down in 2007 and was succeeded by Mike German.

Campaigns for party presidency

In September 2004, Öpik stood for the position of President of the Liberal Democrats, but was defeated by Simon Hughes. (The party president chairs a number of party committees and also represents the party at official functions.)

In 2008, a campaign amongst grassroots party members backing him as a successor to Hughes, under the slogan "I Pick Öpik", emerged at the party's 2008 spring conference in Liverpool. On 24 September, Öpik announced that he was standing down as the party's housing spokesman to concentrate on a campaign for party president. However, in the party ballot in November, Öpik was defeated by Baroness Scott of Needham Market by 20,736 votes to 6,247.

Support for party leadership candidates

In successive Liberal Democrat leadership contests, Öpik gained a reputation for backing campaigns that soon collapse, leading some to talk of the "curse of Lembit" making his backing undesirable.

In 1999, he was one of only two of the party's 46 MPs to back the abortive leadership campaign of Don Foster. Foster abandoned his campaign before nominations even closed, and backed Charles Kennedy, the eventual winner, instead.

During the 2006 leadership contest, Öpik was initially a strong supporter of Kennedy, who then stood down. Öpik subsequently became campaign manager for Mark Oaten. However, Oaten quickly withdrew from the contest, having failed to attract enough support from within the parliamentary party; his only backers were Öpik and Baroness Ludford.

In the 2007 leadership election, Öpik declared his backing for Nick Clegg, and when Clegg won the election Öpik said "My man won, so the curse of Öpik has at last become a blessing".

Lembit supported Jenny Randerson in the 2008 contest for leadership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. Randerson lost to Kirsty Williams.

Public appearances

Öpik has appeared several times on the BBC satirical current affairs quiz show Have I Got News for You (including an appearance on the day after he lost his Parliamentary seat), as well as Question Time and Any Questions. Away from politics he has also appeared on Stand Up for the Week, Al Murray's Happy Hour, All Star Mr and Mrs, Loose Women, Bargain Hunt Famous Finds, Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Come Dine With Me and I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He became the second person to be eliminated after finding himself in the bottom two with fellow contestant Linford Christie. Lembit has shown great promise in his cameo role as jockey in the popular Fulham Panto, helping to raise money for the charity Help For Heroes. He briefly appeared in one episode of Celebrity Juice in 2011.

Parliamentary scandals

Öpik has criticised the tabloid press for portraying politicians as "liars and opportunists" in their coverage of scandals. He wrote a column in the (now defunct) Daily Sport newspaper earning him up to £5,000 a year.

Expenses row and criticism

In May 2009 The Daily Telegraph published details of Öpik's parliamentary expenses claims. It showed that in 2008–2009 Öpik claimed £23,083 in second home allowances out of public funds, including various items of furniture and a £40 summons charge for non-payment of Council Tax.

Öpik told the Telegraph "I am willing to pay back the £40" but did not offer to repay anything else. The Telegraph also outlined a rejected expense claim Öpik attempted to make for £2,499 for a plasma screen television, after which he bought a TV costing £750.

Personal life and charity work

Öpik speaks fluent English, Estonian and German.

On 13 April 1998 Öpik came close to death in a near fatal paragliding accident. He fell 80 feet (24 m) onto a Welsh mountain in his constituency, and broke his back in twelve places, as well as his ribs, sternum and jaw. This experience caused him to take a keen interest in the Spinal Injuries Association, of which he is a member. Despite the accident, he continues with his interest in aviation. He talked about the accident to the July 2010 edition of Flaps Podcast, where he recounted his accident and its aftermath. He has since become a glider pilot at the Midland Gliding Club in Shropshire. He holds a pilot's licence and spoke for British Gliding in the House of Commons. Öpik also rides motorcycles and is a member of the Motorcycle Action Group.

He participated in a celebrity edition of The Apprentice in order to raise money for charity. Sport Relief Does The Apprentice was part of Sport Relief, the Comic Relief/BBC charity initiative that aired on 12 and 14 March 2008. In 2006 he became President of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, following his father's death from the disease the previous year.

He and ITV weather presenter Siân Lloyd appeared on Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on 15 April 2006, winning £64,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Action for Children. The couple came close to marrying, but she ended the relationship in October 2006 and made unflattering comments about Öpik in her autobiography, A Funny Kind of Love. In particular, she cited "women and alcohol" as two things which undermined their relationship, detailing Öpik's "rowdy, drunken behaviour" as he would drink two bottles of wine in an evening, and how after heavy drinking throughout the week, he claimed his resolving to not drink a drop for 24 hours every Sunday "proved he didn't have a problem" with alcohol; but "the reality was he often drank shots in the minutes leading up to midnight on Saturday, and would then uncork a bottle of wine come midnight on Sunday." Lloyd described "wanting to save him from the demons that are fuelled by alcohol" and tiring of finding texts to other women signed "Puppy Dog", and said that she gradually noticed "more and more nights when he didn't come home. Leaving parties were his default excuse. But just how many times would a woman called 'Emma' be leaving his office?" According to Lynn Barber, the author's "main purpose seems to have been demolishing love-rat Lembit".

Öpik later become involved with then-24-year-old Gabriela Irimia of pop music double-act The Cheeky Girls. He announced his engagement to her in a popular magazine, after proposing in Rome. They split up in July 2008 after a "difficult period" in the relationship. In 2009, tabloid newspapers reported he was dating model Katie Green. Öpik and Green denied the rumours while appearing on Sky News, clarifying that they are just friends who share an interest in "campaigning against the fashion industry's continued use of too-thin models". It later transpired that they share a PR company, so the story may have been an intentional attempt at boosting their profiles.

Öpik supports the English football club Leicester City. His mother lives in the city of Leicester.

In June 2010 he made his debut as a stand-up comedian at the Backstage Comedy Club in London's West End. It was described by one audience member as "not fantastic, but not completely awful".

With Hilary Bird and Ulvi Mustmaa, he is the author of the Xenophobe's Guide to the Estonians, published by Oval Books in June 2010.

Öpik is also one of eight celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in July 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Lembit Opik MP profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• Lembit Öpik MP profile at the site of Welsh Liberal Democrats
• Times Online Student Section: Lembit Opik Interview with Lembit Opik
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Lembit Opik MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Lembit Öpik MP
• The Public Whip - Lembit Öpik voting record
• BBC News - Politics: Lembit Opik profile 10 February 2005
• Evening Standard (London); "Lembit and his Very Cheeky Family"
• Guardian article on election 27 April 2010
• www.politics.co.uk: Opik urges tactical voting against Liberal Dems
• Flaps Podcast, July 2010