Jacques Arnold DL (born 27 August 1947) is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the member of parliament (MP) for

Gravesham Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. The council is based in its largest town of Gravesend. The borough is indirectly named after Gravesend, using the form of the town's name as it appear ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

from

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, when he succeeded Tim Brinton, until he lost his seat in the landslide 1997 election. He is now a consultant and lecturer on

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

n 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. Unlike many of his fellow former

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

MPs, he refought the seat at the 2001 election – only to come second place to Labour's

Chris Pond Christopher Richard Pond (born 25 September 1952) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Gravesham in Kent, from 1997 to 2005. Early life He went to the Minchenden School (became com ...

. The Tories regained the seat in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

with Adam Holloway becoming the MP, the first time since the 1951 general election that the seat had not been held by the winning party.

Biography

Jacques Arnold was educated at schools in Brazil, before returning to England in 1968, to attend the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(LSE), where he attained a BSc (Hons.) in Economics. During that period he was Chairman of LSE Conservatives, the student society of the Tories at the

Career

Jacques Arnold started his career at Hill Samuel & Co., merchant bankers, in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. Between 1976 and 1978 he lived in São Paulo, where he established the Representative Office of

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

Limited, serving as their Deputy Representative. Returning to Britain, he was Regional Director of

Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was the founder of the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was born into a poor family in Derbyshire and left school at the age of ten to start work as a gardener's boy. He served an appren ...

Bankers from 1978 to 1983, with responsibilities for

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

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 of

, and a Director of

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

Europe Ltd. During that period he won the

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

division of

Northamptonshire County Council Northamptonshire County Council was the county council for Northamptonshire in England from 1889 to 2021. It was originally created in 1889, reformed in 1974, and abolished in 2021. The headquarters of the council was County Hall, Northampton, ...

, and served as County Councillor from 1981 to 1985. He was Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Coventry South East in 1983. In 1982 he succeeded Christopher Horne as Chairman of Hyde Park Tories, the Conservative team at

Speakers' Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where free speech public speaking, open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London, England. Histor ...

. He was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to

David Maclean David John Maclean, Baron Blencathra, (born 16 May 1953) is a Conservative Party life peer. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and The Border from 1983 to 2010. Early and later life Born in Scotland, Maclean was educated at ...

, Minister of State for the Environment, and then at the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

, from 1992 to 1995. He was a Member of the

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

Select Committees. He was Chairman of the Conservative backbench committee on Constitutional Affairs, and Secretary of the Conservative backbench committee on Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs. He was a member of the executive committee of the British Group, Inter-Parliamentary Union. 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 the

Brazilian Congress The National Congress () is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of D ...

in Brasília during the constitutional crisis of 1992. He was a member of the Argentine British Conference, which brought the countries back together after the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

. Since leaving the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

he has been Adviser to a number of major companies with interests in Latin America, notably

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

, and FIRST Magazine. 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.

Personal life

Jacques Arnold is married to Patricia, and they have a son and two daughters. He is a Grand Official of the Brazilian National

Order of the Southern Cross The National Order of the Southern Cross () is a Brazilian Orders, decorations, and medals of Brazil, order of chivalry founded by List of monarchs of Brazil, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro I on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate ...

and a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Jacques Alumni of the London School of Economics Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Bow Group Deputy lieutenants of Kent UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 1947 births Living people Members of Northamptonshire County Council