The former Lib Dem MP, popularly known for once being engaged to Gabriela Irimia, one of the Cheeky Girls, started the night in a suit and tie at the Oxford Union.
Opik made a speech defending New Labour’s record. Ken Livingstone and Peter Hitchens spoke against the motion ‘This House Remembers New Labour Fondly’. The opposition won the debate with 161 votes to 114.
Opik said that New Labour deserved credit for introducing the minimum wage, and wasn’t to blame for the “corrupt” expenses system that undermined Gordon Brown’s premiership.
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Lembit enjoying the company of two Union members in the Gladstone Room
Following the after-debate drinks Opik went to Bridge with several Union committee members including Polina Ivanova, Union Librarian. Several students recognised Opik and posed for photos with him.
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James Heywood with Opik in Bridge
James Heywood said that “Lembit was great, he is totally mad. I’m not sure exactly how much he drank, but he definitely started asking some people in President’s drinks about their masturbation habits, and in Bridge I’m pretty sure he likened a toilet cubicle to Nick Clegg’s office.”
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James Johnson enjoying a moment with Lembit
Since losing his constitutency of Montgomeryshire in the 2010 election, Opik has embarked on a varied career in television and the media. When Opik attempted to become a wrestler, the Daily Mail reports, he left the match in a stretcher.
James Johnson, a second-year Brasenose student who met Opik at the Union, described Opik, “marching around in a bow tie and an unbuttoned collar”, as “hugely entertaining and excitable”.
He opined to Cherwell, “It can only be said that the end of his political career has transformed him into not only a musician, not only a wrestler, but also a member of the Oxford nightlife. He has become a hero.”
