Lembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire

Montgomeryshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Montgomeryshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1542, it elects one Member of Parliament , traditionally known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election.The Montgomeryshire Welsh Assembly...

 in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election. He served as the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats

Welsh Liberal Democrats

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties of the federal Liberal Democrats and operate within Wales, the others being the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England....

 from 2001-07, and stood unsuccessfully for the position of president of the party in 2004 and 2008.

He put himself forward as the Liberal Democrats' nomination as Mayor of London

Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 in the 2012 election

London mayoral election, 2012

The 2012 London mayoral election will be held on Thursday 3 May 2012 to elect the Mayor of London. It will be the fourth such election since the post of Mayor of London was started in 2000...

.