Talk:Lembit Öpik

Vandalism?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I doubt he is knows as "the tosser" or was voted gay parliamentarian of the year 4 years running, seen as he has some fairly public straight relationships? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.240.72.69 (talk) 15:09, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

I think you're right with that he didn't get that gay vote, but I'd beg to differ on the tosser statement, that's quite toned down for some of the things he is known as round here, like 'complete caunt'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.43.72.162 (talk) 00:55, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Misc

• WHO PUT HE ASSUMED OFFICE IN MARCH 2006? JUST BECAUSE MING BECOME LEADER ON THAT DATE IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT, THAT'S WHEN HE CAME INTO OFFICE. HE WAS WALES AND NI SPOKESMAN FOR SOMETIME BEFORE.*

Can someone link in this artical: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23392706-details/Lembit+and+his+very+cheeky+family/article.do which shows some of his family...

Why don't you do it? Biscit (talk) 14:28, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Shadow?

... and point out this as the House of Commons website shows he IS the shadow secretary of state for Wales and N.I.

If he's a Lib Dem, he's not a shadow secretary of state for anything.

He'd be Lib Dem spokesman for NI and Wales...

Incorrect. While the Lib Dems aren't officially the opposition, they have decided that their spokesmen now form a 'Shadow Cabinet' as part of their campaign that they are the 'Real Alternative'. Therefore his official title is Shadow Secretary of State.

Which is exactly why we shouldn't report it in this manner. Shadow has always previously meant the largest opposition party. The Lib dems have been trying to use that title to which they have no historic right as a political tool. Wiki, unless it explains that this use is disputed (and it is by both Tory and Labour) we are taking sides. Alci12 23:59, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

He is the Lib Dem shadow secretary, you will find the House of Commons website slightly more accuarte and impartial that wikipedia http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/libdems.cfm and the this move had nothing to do with the real oppostion campaign which was the sloggan for the 2005 GE.

Siblings

Lembit was devastated by his brother Endel's death, and made a point of giving a eulogy in Parliament. The family was very close. So listing his sister and brother is highly relevant IMO, and would be good to keep in future revisions. (I mentioned this article to Lembit at the wake - Endel was a friend of mine as well - and Lembit and Urve were both very pleased with the idea :-) - David Gerard 21:36, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Asteroids

Although the last addition was silly, does anyone care to add something about Öpik's concern about the planet being hit by an asteroid? (And if he's backing the planet then it probably is doomed!) Timrollpickering 09:14, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Relationships

Can someone put in somethign about the fact he isn't engaged anymore and is going out with the singer from the cheeky girls (as reported on bbc news on sunday 17th dec 2006) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.71.60.100 (talk) 19:36, 17 December 2006 (UTC).

Recent changes

I've removed a few irrelevant sections, tied it up a bit, included a section about the WLD and included a few more references. Qwerty1985 (talk) 15:34, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

I've reverted back to listing him as a member of the LIBERAL DEMOCRAT SHADOW CABINET, as that is how the UK Parliament website describes them. Don't change it back anyone - if you disagree we can take it to the mods 10:52, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

dito Qwerty1985 (talk) 16:42, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

The use of the term "shadow" for the lead spokespersons is contentious. Note that there isn't an article Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet - it instead goes to Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team - and even the current acting leader Vincent Cable is described as "Lib Dem Treasury Spokesman" (on his infobox and navbox) and "the Liberal Democrats' main economic spokesperson" (in the intro), not "Shadow Chancellor" or "Anti-Shadow Chancellor" or "Shadow Chancellor from Twickenham" (the latter two arise from that ultra rare thing, a joke by Gordon Brown). Timrollpickering (talk) 01:29, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

24 September 2010 (BST) I removed the word "former" in the opening sentence, Opik is *still* a Liberal Democrat Politician, he is seeking the party's nomination for becoming London Mayor. He is a "former Liberal Democrat MP" but as he has not formally resigned from politics, he cannot be described as a "former Liberal Democrat Political." The next sentence makes it clear that he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.22.87.70 (talk) 12:21, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

WTF?

Öpik's parents were from Estonia. He would most like to play golf with Malcolm Sawkins settled in Northern Ireland.

What on Earth does this mean? Is it Estonian translated through babelfish a few times? This "article" is garbage. Typical wikiality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.149.142.132 (talk) 22:10, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

It was vandalism, it happens a lot, get used to it ;-) Lethesl 23:47, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

"heavy-metal umlaut"

If his grandfather Ernst Julius Öpik had a legitimate Estonian umlaut, then it seems snide to call the umlaut in Lembit's name a "heavy-metal umlaut" (even if his parents apparently mostly didn't use it)... AnonMoos (talk) 23:16, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

This topic also does not appear in the reference cited; unclear if this is vandalism or not. Starryharlequin (talk) 23:53, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Professional Wrestler

In the opening sentence he is described as a former politician and current professional wrestler. Is he a professional or just a well known public figure amateur wrestler? If he is pro, when did this occur? How many matches has he competed in?

2.126.180.108 (talk) 20:36, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

The question about “professional” given the various meanings of the word is an interesting one. The basic distinction in a wrestling context is competitive (amateur) vs exhibition (professional), and it’s definitely the latter that’s being referred to, but the current phrasing could give the wrong impression. It seems he was involved (playing himself as a novelty act) in one event to issue a challenge and then to be follow it up by being beaten – these events are mentioned in sections 7 and 3 of the article, and I was thinking of merging them. Billwilson5060 (talk) 19:39, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: article not moved Armbrust, B.Ed. ^{WrestleMania XXVIII} _{The Undertaker 20–0} 06:44, 14 July 2012 (UTC)

---

Lembit Öpik → Lembit Opik – per common usage (e.g. BBC, Guardian). Even the subject himself fails to use the umlaut on many occasions (e.g., his website). See also previous discussion above. —  AjaxSmack  03:42, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Survey

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.

• Support. Clear case of WP:COMMONNAME. Zarcadia (talk) 09:20, 7 July 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose. Hold on — there is no website at that link. There is only a parked "coming soon" page, which doesn't even mention his name at all, only the domain Lembit-Opik.com (which has no diacritics for obvious reasons). His Twitter account does use the diacritic, as does a comedic political video featuring him and made with his active participation, as does this Parliament video and these parliamentary committee minutes. It sounds like he is not a stickler about insisting that others use the diacritic, but he himself clearly does, as do sources that he is in a position to directly influence or provide feedback to. We should follow what clearly seems to be the subject's own preference, and the practices of the most careful and reliable sources. — P.T. Aufrette (talk) 08:24, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose His name is Öpik. He calls himself Öpik. Therefore the article remains at Öpik. Jared Preston (talk) 08:27, 10 July 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose, after second thoughts I was about to support this (having looked at "Lembit-Opik.com - coming soon" but not having registered that it has no actual text), but following P.T.'s post must defer to the parliamentary committee minutes. I can't imagine he cares much, but House of Commons Formal Minutes do care about such things. Interestingly his grandfather kept the umlaut (Thomas A. Hockey The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers: A-L 2007 Page 855 "Ernst Öpik was among the first to put forward a number of ideas now regarded as part of mainstream astronomy, including a way of measuring distances to other galaxies..") not typical of emigrants to Britain during that period. Probably his parents cared more, hence "Lembit" not "Larry" In ictu oculi (talk) 13:37, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Discussion

Any additional comments:

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for speedy deletion:

• OpikDigitalConf.png

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 13:22, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

Removed information about activity in Asgardia project

User:Mean as custard removed an information from Lembit Öpik article. It's information about his relevant activity in Asgardia project. Sources about this activity are in both organisation's site and mass media. I don't think it needs removal and I undones it. Roobinstein (talk) 12:14, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

I have removed the material again also. Until the matter is discussed in independent reliable sources, such trivia amounts to a BLP violation. In any case, while it is good that you have opened this discussion, you should not continue to insert the material once it is apparent that it is contentious. Cheers! ——SerialNumber54129 12:20, 10 April 2019 (UTC)

Reads like a resume

The "charity work" reads like something Opik wrote himself. The tone needs to be changed from a press release to an actual wiki article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C7:EF01:8800:9133:FABE:8D0C:9765 (talk) 22:11, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

Political party

Öpik recently spoke at a training session for Tory activists on the subject of "How to Stop the Lib Dems". This seems incompatible with him still being a member of the Lib Dems, though I don't know whether he's stated explicitly that he's left. MFlet1 (talk) 11:06, 2 April 2021 (UTC)