Jacques Arnold

Jacques Arnold was educated at schools in Brazil, before returning to England in 1968, to attend the London School of Economics, where he attained a B.Sc.(Econ)(Hons.). During that period he was Chairman of LSE Conservatives, the student society.

Jacques Arnold started his career with Hill Samuel & Co., merchant bankers, in the City of London.

Between 1976 and 1978 he lived in São Paulo, where he established the Representative Office of Midland Bank Limited, serving as the Deputy Representative.

Returning to Britain, he was from 1978 to 1983 he was Regional Director of Thomas Cook Bankers, with responsibilities for Latin 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 of Midland Bank, and a Director of American Express Europe Ltd.

During that period he won the Oundle division of Northamptonshire County Council, and served as County Councillor from 1981 to 1985. He was Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Coventry South East in 1983. He was Chairman of Hyde Park Tories, the Conservative team at Speakers' Corner.

He was a Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Maclean, Minister of State for the Environment, and then at the Home Office, from 1992 to 1995. He was a Member of the Education and Treasury 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 in Brasilia 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.

Since leaving the House of Commons he has been Adviser to a number of major companies with interests in Latin America, notably BAE Systems, and FIRST Magazine.[1] 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.

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 and a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Jacques Arnold