Tag Archives: lembit opik

Thanks to Will Barter and James King for alerting us to an interview Lembit Opik gave to Radio 4’s Saturday Live, broadcast yesterday, where he talked about the huge effect his 2010 election defeat had had on him. He had been worried about losing, but his confidence had been boosted by the data they had locally and when he was defeated, he was totally shocked. He said he’s “assumed he was going to win” and defeat hit him in 4 stages, taking him 3.5 years to turn his life around.

He described the initial disbelief and the displacement activity that led him to go pretty much straight on to Have I got news for you in the immediate aftermath of his defeat. He then described a 2 year grieving process and further period of depression before he was able to get on with his life. He talked about the “albatross” of having the reputation of having thrown away a safe Liberal Democrat seat. He also described how he came within 6 weeks of having his house repossessed when he didn’t have a Plan B to fall back on when he lost his income.

He also talked about his relationship with Gabriela Irimia from the Cheeky Girls and said that it was the most important relationship he had had. He was heartbroken when she ended it. He only used her name once in quite a long discussion about her. What surprised me was that he said that he was surprised that his personal life would affect his professional reputation. You’d think he’d never read a tabloid. He said he’d do it all again if he had his time again because nobody should tell anyone who to love.