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Lembit Opik)
Lembit Öpik (born March 2, 1965) is a British politician in the Liberal Democrat Party. He is Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire and also Shadow Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland. He is also a member of the Agriculture Select Committee.
To the general public he is perhaps best known for his concerns about the possibility of an asteroid impact on Earth, and his advocacy for increased funding for attempts at detection, under the banner Spaceguard. His grandfather was Ernst Julius Öpik, an Estonian astronomer. He was also joint chair of the Middle Way Group , a cross-party parliamentary group which supported the regulation, not banning, of fox hunting.
His parents were refugees from Estonia who settled in Northern Ireland, where he was born and grew up, being educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. He took a degree in philosophy at the University of Bristol, where he became President of University of Bristol Union, and was also on the National Union of Students executive.
Before being elected in the 1997 election for Montgomeryshire he was a personnel manager and had stood in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1992 election. Although unsuccessful he was elected as a councillor on Newcastle City Council. In September 2004 he campaigned for the internal party election for the position of President of the Liberal Democrats, which was won by Simon Hughes.
Öpik has appeared several times on Have I Got News For You. Due to his unusual name, he has been nicknamed "The Human Anagram". He became a member of the Spinal Injuries Association after a near-fatal paragliding accident in 1998 broke his back in 12 places. He is engaged to ITV weather forecaster Sian Lloyd.
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Last updated: 10-14-2005 14:52:22
