Sir Thomas Richard Arnold (born 25 January 1947), known as Tom Arnold, is a British politician who was the Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party in 1983. Arnold was elected to the British House of Commons in 1974, and served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hazel Grove until his retirement in 1997. From 1979 to 1982, Arnold was the Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office and later in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1983, Arnold was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party under Chairmans Cecil Parkinson and John Gummer. Arnold was educated at the Bedales School in Petersfield, Hampshire, later at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, and at Pembroke College, Oxford.
When Arnold began office, in 1974, he was one of the youngest members of Parliament, along with Andrew MacKay, Tim Smith, Anthony Nelson, and Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Together, during the 1970s, the five were referred to as the "The Tories' Young Men", with Arnold being the only backbencher in the group. Arnold was an ardent supporter of the European Economic Community during his time in Parliament.
Tom Arnold (1823 - 1900), also known as Thomas Arnold the Younger, was a British literary scholar.
In 1983 Tom Arnold got his first taste of stand-up comedy when he performed at open microphone nights at the University of Iowa. Tom's comedy career had its ups and downs over the next several years until 1988, when he entered the Minneapolis Comedy Competition and won first place. With this victory in hand he decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a stand-up comedy career. Once he hit Los Angeles, things happened fast. That same year he was hired as a staff writer for Roseanne's TV sitcom "Roseanne" (1988) and began to appear regularly on the show as "Arnie Thomas". He and Roseanne were married in 1990, with Arnold converting to Judaism prior to the marriage. They formed Rapello County Productions to develop projects for themselves. The couple's marriage, together with their sometimes outrageous behavior, attracted media attention - and especially that of the tabloids - like a magnet. In 1994 conditions between the two deterioriated and they went through a very public, and acrimonious, diforce. Tom has been married twice since then and is the co-host of Fox Sports Net's talk show "Best Damn Sports Show Period, The" (2001). He also does voiceover work, and provides the voice for the "Oven Mitt" character in the TV commercials for the Arby's restaurant chain.
