Tom has been involved in conservative politics since 1972. He was Youth Campaign Convention Chairman for Brian Mulroney in 1983 and served as an Executive Assistant in the Office of the Prime Minister between 1984 and 1986. He has served as campaign manager for a number of P.C. candidates both federally and provincially. In the early 1980s, Tom was President of the Ontario P.C. Campus Association. From 1986 until 1989, he served as President of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, leading that organization through a dynamic and exciting period of renewal and reform.

Tom chaired Mike Harris’ victorious 1995 and 1999 campaigns. He was co-chairman of the founding convention of the Canadian Alliance Party in January 2000 and sought the leadership of the new party in June of that year.

A lawyer by profession, Tom is currently a Partner in the Toronto office of Russell Reynolds and a Partner with the global executive search firm of Egon Zehnder International.