Jacques ArnoldDL (born 27 August 1947) is aConservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was themember of parliament (MP) forGravesham inKent from1987, when he succeededTim Brinton, until he lost his seat in the landslide1997 election. He is now a consultant and lecturer onLatin American Affairs as well as the author of a two-book series on political and genealogical subjects. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent in January 2013.[1][2]
Unlike many of his fellow formerToryMPs, he refought the seat at the2001 election – only to come second place toLabour'sChris Pond. TheTories regained the seat in2005 withAdam Holloway becoming the MP, the first time since the1951 general election that the seat had not been held by the winning party.[3]
Jacques Arnold was educated at schools in Brazil, before returning to England in 1968, to attend theLondon School of Economics (LSE), where he attained a BSc (Hons.) in Economics. During that period he was Chairman of LSE Conservatives, the student society of theTories at theLondon School of Economics.
Jacques Arnold started his career atHill Samuel & Co., merchant bankers, in theCity of London.[citation needed]
Between 1976 and 1978 he lived in São Paulo, where he established the Representative Office ofMidland Bank Limited, serving as their Deputy Representative.[citation needed]
Returning to Britain, he was Regional Director ofThomas Cook Bankers from 1978 to 1983, with responsibilities forLatin America,Iberia and Africa, setting up new operations in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Caracas, and running large established businesses in Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Nigeria and Libya. He was then successively Assistant Trade Finance Director ofMidland Bank, and a Director ofAmerican Express Europe Ltd.[4]
During that period he won theOundle division ofNorthamptonshire County Council, and served as County Councillor from 1981 to 1985. He was Conservative Parliamentary Candidate forCoventry South East in 1983. In 1982 he succeeded Christopher Horne as Chairman ofHyde Park Tories, the Conservative team atSpeakers' Corner.[2]
He was a Parliamentary Private Secretary toDavid Maclean,Minister of State for the Environment, and then at theHome Office, from 1992 to 1995. He was a Member of theEducation andTreasury Select Committees. He was Chairman of the Conservative backbench committee on Constitutional Affairs, and Secretary of the Conservative backbench committee onForeign & Commonwealth Affairs. He was a member of the executive committee of the British Group, Inter-Parliamentary Union.[5]
He also became chairman of both the Brazilian and Portuguese Parliamentary Groups, and Secretary of the British Latin American Parliamentary Group. He was an official parliamentary observer at the 1988 Chilean plebiscite, and also for the first elections in both Angola and Mozambique. He addressed a committee of theBrazilian Congress in Brasília during the constitutional crisis of 1992. He was a member of the Argentine British Conference, which brought the countries back together after theFalklands War.[5]
Since leaving theHouse of Commons he has been Adviser to a number of major companies with interests in Latin America, notablyBAE Systems, and FIRST Magazine.[6] He also lectures on Latin America. He was Chairman of the Tonbridge & Malling Conservative Association, 2012–16. He is the author of two series of books: "A History of Britain’s Parliamentary Constituencies", and "The Royal Houses of Europe" a genealogical work.[7]
Jacques Arnold is married to Patricia, and they have a son and two daughters. He is a Grand Official of the Brazilian NationalOrder of the Southern Cross and aDeputy Lieutenant of Kent.[citation needed]
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