Lembit Opik MP talks culture

Lembit Opik, the high profile Liberal Democrat MP, talked to a packed out audience about politics and popular culture last Monday evening.

Approximately fifty Warwick students turned out to listen to Lembit Opik in a talk arranged by the Liberal Democrat Society.

The MP, made famous through his tabloid-friendly relationships with television presenter, Sian Lloyd and Cheeky Girl, Gabriela Irimia, gave a talk before answering questions from the audience.

He did not completely dismiss ambitions for leadership and called for stricter privacy laws for people in the public eye. In the discussion, he said how it was difficult to rely on the press to provide “osmosis” between popular culture and politics.

Opik defended his appearances on television shows such as Saturday Night Live by asking, “What better way to serve the people than to be known by the people and be able to connect to the people?”

The notoriously disorganised politician arrived half an hour late to the event, and upon arrival explained how he had got lost in Kenilworth. Many students nonetheless were impressed by Lembit Opik’s talk.

One student, Aimen Burham said, “He was brilliant and got his ideas across well”. Another first year student, Daniel Dhillon, observed that Opik had been very charismatic, but commented that he “could have arrived earlier”.

The room Lembit Opik spoke to did not hold back on its grilling of the Estonian politician, with much of the questioning appearing to be sceptical of his unique approach to politics.

One student asked if there was a danger that he would become a figure of fun in the political sphere. In response, Opik claimed that he had an 82 per cent recognition level, arguing that the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg should do more publicity to heighten the profile of his party.

Yet, audience member, Tom Evans, pursued him to give specific items of policy he had changed due to his fame. After the talk, Evans said how it was good for Opik to engage with the students but that “he had let his ego get in front of his ideas”.

Equally, student Sarah Reid was surprised how “normal and approachable” he was, having not known who Opik was beforehand and thinking he would be “old and boring”.

Lembit Opik said how the Warwick audience had been “the best [he’d] had in years” and commented on the refreshing honesty of the students who “weren’t sycophantic at all”.