Is Lembit Öpik actually going to stand in the Lib Dem presidential election? Ros Scott’s campaign site went live earlier this week; but there’s no mention of Lembit’s candidacy on the Montgomery Lib Dems site (perhaps that’s not allowed); nor, rather more surprisingly, on what appears to be his “official” site at ePolitix. (Indeed, the latter spells his surname “�pik” and appears not to have been updated for some time – the latest engagement marked in Lembit’s diary is for Saturday 12 June, which last fell in 2004.) The http://www.lembit4president.co.uk/ site is completely blank. Like anyone who reads the papers I know Lembit has not had an easy time in his personal life over the last few months; it would not astonish me if he decided that he didn’t need the hassle of the internal party election at this stage.
(Edited to add – I see James Graham asking the same question.)
I like the Emma Woodhouse character a lot, because she is imperfect. I don’t view her as the most imperfect heroine created by Austen. But she is the only one whose imperfections are made very obvious by the author. And yet – despite her flaws – I find Emma to be rather likeable. I can’t help it. And watching her character develop over the course turned out to be very satisfying to me.