Lembit Öpik was born 1965-03-02 in
Bangor, County Down and is now a prominent member of the
Liberal Democrat party. He is the member for
Montgomeryshire in Parliament, and the
Shadow Secretary of State for
Wales and
Shadow Secretary of State for
Northern Island.
His engagement with
Sian Lloyd ended in December 2005 when news of his affair with a member of the
Cheek Girls became public.
He attended
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution and then read
Philosophy at the
University of Bristol, gaining a 2i, and also served as the President of the
Students' Union.
He was elected to
Newcastle city council in 1992, and stood for
Newcastle Central in the 1992 General Election and
Northumbria in the 1994 European Elections. He was selected for
Montgomeryshire in September 1996, and became
MP in the 1997 election, and re-elected in 2001 and 2005. He currently has 51% of the vote, a 24% majority. During the early months of the 2005 parliament, he introduced a
Private Member's Bill, in an attempt to lower the
voting age to 16, which failed to proceed to parliament by 8 votes.
He has appeared on the popular news quiz
Have I got News For You twice, aswell as numerous other television programmes, making him one of the best-known Liberal Democrats in the country.
He is a keen
paraglider, and came close to death in 1998 when he fell approximately 80 feet and broke his back in 12 places. He has since taken a keen interest in the
Spinal Injuries Association. This experience doesn't appear to have engendered a fear of heights, as he
pilot's licence and speaks for
British Gliding in the
house of commons. He also has an interest in
motorbikes.
Here is a quick round-up of a couple of issues that he has spoken strongly about:
- Asteroids: £70,000,000 to track them, to avoid collisions
- Hunting with hounds: No ban, but regulatory agency