Lembit Öpik (/ˈlɛmbɪt ˈoʊpɪk/, Estonian: [ˈlembit ˈøpˑik]; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the 2010 general election.^[2][3] He was the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 2001 to 2007.^[4][5]

Öpik stood unsuccessfully for the position of President of the party in 2004^[6] and 2008.^[7] He was also unsuccessful in a bid to become the Liberal Democrats' nominee in the 2012 London mayoral election.^[8]

Beyond his political work, Öpik has also been in the public eye through his appearances on several television shows and as a result of his personal relationships with ITV weather presenter Siân Lloyd and with pop star Gabriela Irimia of The Cheeky Girls, which drew considerable media attention.

Öpik's parents were from Estonia, but after the Soviet occupation under Joseph Stalin, they fled to Northern Ireland. Öpik was born in Bangor, County Down, the elder son of Liivi Öpik (née Vedo) and physicist Unno Öpik (19 October 1926 – 6 May 2005), and grew up there with sister Urve Öpik (born 1960, a psychotherapist) and brother Endel "Tal" Öpik (12 April 1968 – 21 November 2005,^[9] a musician). His grandfather was Ernst Öpik, an Estonian astronomer who worked at Armagh Observatory.^[10][11][12]

Öpik was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution before going on to the University of Bristol, where he completed a degree in philosophy. He served as the 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).^[13][12][14]

In 1988, Öpik joined Procter & Gamble in Newcastle upon Tyne as a brand assistant. He became corporate training and organisation development manager in 1991 and was promoted to be global human resources training manager in 1996. Öpik was elected to the Liberal Democrats' Federal Executive Committee in 1991. He was elected as a councillor on Newcastle City Council in 1992.^[13][15]

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.

Öpik lost his seat in parliament at the 2010 general election when he was defeated in his constituency of Montgomeryshire by Glyn Davies of the Conservative Party by 13,976 votes to 12,792. This represented a swing of 12.5% against Öpik and a swing of 13.8% in favour of the Conservatives in the constituency.^[3] Öpik put himself forward to be the Liberal Democrats' nominee for mayor of London in the 2012 mayoral election, but in the first round of the party's selection ballot, he came fourth with 252 votes and was eliminated from the process.^[30][8]

Öpik was a candidate for the Liberal Democrats' federal executive committee in 2012 but was not elected.^[31] He also expressed an interest in becoming the Liberal Democrats' candidate for the position of Police and crime commissioner for Northumbria Police in 2012. However, he was ruled ineligible because he did not have a residence in the region.^[32]

Late in 2012, he joined Leadenhall Consulting, a human resources consulting firm specialising in the insurance and financial sectors, as an associate director responsible for developing training. On joining the firm, Opik explained that training is his "first love".^[33][34] Öpik is a long-time supporter of the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG UK) and a keen motorcyclist. On 23 November 2013, it was announced that Öpik had joined MAG as director of communications and public affairs. In the post, he will work on behalf of motorcyclists in the UK and Europe.^[35]

He presents^[when?] programmes on BBC Radio Kent^[36] every Friday morning from 9:00 where he hosts the topical Kent Midmorning phone-in, and every Sunday from 11:00 where he presents a news panel format, digesting the week's local, national and international stories, looking at the newspapers, welcoming expert guests and politicians for discussions as well as taking calls from listeners.^[37] He also regularly stands in for Julia George on other weekday mornings. Since 2010, he has broadcast for Press TV, including hosting a news satire show and a number of political news programmes. He currently^[when?] hosts A Simple Question.

On 24 June 2018, Öpik was elected as the chairman of the self-proclaimed and unrecognised parliament of the micronation Asgardia during the first parliamentary session in Vienna, Austria.^[38][39][40] "The birth of the new space nation Asgardia" was announced in a press conference in Paris, France, on 12 October 2016^[41][42][43] Opik was elected for a second term as Chair of Asgardian Parliament on 25 August 2023.^[44]

In the autumn of 2018, Öpik considered participating in Estonian elections. He said he had been asked to consider being either a member of the Estonian parliament, or to consider running as president. "One position is just to be a member of parliament, which I would not mind doing", he said. "The other position is president of Estonia. It is more than just a non-executive role—I could make quite a big splash. I have not got a campaign plan but I have said I would be interested. It's not an appointed job, I would have to stand for it."^[45][46][47]

In 2021, Öpik was reported to have been expelled from the Liberal Democrats following his appearance at a Conservative Party meeting as the sole speaker in an event called "How to Stop the Lib Dems, an insiders guide on how the Lib Dems plan their campaigns."^[48]

In September 2022 he was announced as an upcoming speaker at the 2022 UKIP conference.^[49] and addressed the conference on "wokeness" in October.^[50]

Lembit Öpik is the son of atomic physicist Uuno Öpik and the grandson of astronomer Ernst Öpik. He speaks fluent English, Estonian and German.^[61] Talking about the 2004 Parliamentary Language Challenge, he said that he could "get by" in French and Welsh and was intending to become fluent in the Welsh language. ^[62] In 2003 he was a "day president" at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, held at Meifod within his constituency; this required him to make a speech in Welsh, for which he was coached by his then girlfriend, Siân Lloyd.^[63]

On 13 April 1998 Öpik came close to death in a paragliding accident. He fell 80 feet (24 m) onto a Welsh mountain in his constituency and broke his back in 12 places, as well as his ribs, sternum and jaw.^[64][65] This experience caused him to take a keen interest in the Spinal Injuries Association,^[66] of which he is a member. He later underwent a series of surgical procedures to correct the damage to the bones in his face.^[67]

Despite the accident, he continued 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 (he was the chair of the all-party parliamentary motorcycling group when he was an MP), and since November 2013, he has been employed as the campaigns and communications director for the Motorcycle Action Group. Öpik supports the English football club Leicester City.^[68] His mother lives in the city of Leicester.^[69]

He participated in a celebrity edition of The Apprentice to raise money for charity.^[70] 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. ^[71]

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.^[72] The couple came close to marrying, but she ended the relationship in October 2006^[16] and made unflattering comments about Öpik in her autobiography, A Funny Kind of Love. According to Lynn Barber, the author's "main purpose seems to have been demolishing love-rat Lembit".^[73]

Öpik later became involved with then-24-year-old Gabriela Irimia of pop music double-act The Cheeky Girls. They split up in July 2008 after a "difficult period" in the relationship.^[47][74]

At the age of 52 he had a daughter, born in June 2017, with his partner Sabina Vankova.^[75] Later that year his partner was reported to have left him.^[76] The couple had a second daughter in November 2020.^[1]