Crosby Textor Group
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Crosby Textor Group, Tobacco Tactics, updated 22 August 2025, accessed 19 December 2025.
The Crosby Textor Group (‘the CT Group’) is an Australian campaign consultancy, founded in 2002 by Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor.12
In 2010, the firm opened a branch in London, United Kingdom (UK), known as Crosby Textor Fullbrook Partners (‘CTF Partners’), managed by Mark Fullbrook. CT Group is headquartered in London, UK, with has offices in Europe, the US, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.3 the firm has also expanded its European presence with a Paris and Milan office.4
A list of current staff and board members can be found on the CT Group website.5
Background
Lynton Crosby
Lynton Crosby has a long history of consulting for the Australian Liberal Party and the UK Conservative Party.
In June 2016, he led the unsuccessful campaign to replace outgoing UK Prime Minister David Cameron with Boris Johnson.6 Earlier that year, amid strong criticism, Crosby received a knighthood “for his service to politics”.7
In November 2022, The Guardian reported that CT Group documents revealed that one of Lynton Crosby’s companies had been lobbying ministers or senior civil servants on behalf of Philip Morris International (PMI). This occurred at a time when the government was considering its new tobacco control strategy, including raising the legal smoking age to 21. In the same article, a spokesperson for PMI denied that Crosby had been consulting on its behalf.8
Mark Fullbrook
Mark Fullbrook ran Boris Johnson’s successful re-election campaign for Mayor of London in 2012.9 Fullbrook previously worked as Head of Campaigns for the UK Conservative Party, and in 1993 established PLS, a Conservative campaigns and communications consultancy.10
Fullbrook’s wife, Lorraine Fullbrook, is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble (2010-2015) and is now Baroness Fullbrook, having been made a life peer by Johnson in 2020.1112
In December 2018 Johnson received a £20,000 interest free loan and £3,000 donation towards “office and staffing costs” from CTF Partners.13 Mark Fullbrook later served as the then Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Downing Street Chief of Staff from September to October 2022. He continued to own a 10% share of CT Group even after his appointment.14 Fullbrook was not initially employed by the Government but was seconded to Downing Street by his lobbying firm, Fullbrook Strategies. Following criticism that the arrangement circumvented rules on transparency and created the potential for conflicts of interest, Downing Street said it would employ Fullbrook directly.15
In October 2022, Fullbrook recused himself from discussions about changes to the government’s smoking strategy due to his past as a tobacco industry lobbyist, having worked on behalf of PMI and British American Tobacco (BAT).16 He returned to Fullbrook Strategies Limited in January 2023. Although senior government officials leaving their posts are not normally permitted to lobby for two years, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) reduced this to six months given his short tenure as chief of staff (49 days) and the fact that many of the Truss administration’s policies had since been “significantly altered”.17
In November 2024 it was revealed that Fullbrook had retained a pass giving him access to Parliament for an extra 18 months, due to an administrative error. The pass was sponsored by his wife Baroness Fullbrook and should have been cancelled in December 2022, but it was not deactivated until May 2024.18 There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Fullbrook.18
Relationship with the Tobacco Industry
Both the Australian and UK branches of CT Group have reportedly worked for tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco and Philip Morris.1920
CT Group (UK) Trading Limited has declared lobbying on behalf of Philip Morris Limited, the UK subsidiary of PMI, since January 2023.2122
The CT Group founders have also had relationships with tobacco companies.
Crosby, on behalf of the Australian Liberal Party, actively sought out and accepted tobacco industry funding when he was the Party’s Federal Director.23 “These cigarette manufacturers are legal companies which employ thousands of Australians. If they want to make a contribution…they are entitled to do so”, Crosby was quoted.23
Textor has previously listed Philip Morris as a past client of his.24 In 1998, Textor (working for Australasian Research Strategies) prepared an environmental tobacco smoke survey for Philip Morris.2526 He also spoke at a Philip Morris Australia’s 1998 Corporate Affairs Conference, where the risk of the introduction of plain packaging was discussed.2728
Lobbying Against Plain Packaging in UK
In 2013, the UK Government abandoned plans to introduce plain tobacco packaging. Conservative MPs attributed the move to the appointment of Crosby as the Government’s campaign strategist.29
- For more information on how Crosby lobbied the UK Government and Lord Marland over plain packaging, see Lynton Crosby.
Lobbying Against Plain Packaging in Ireland
Leaked correspondence revealed that Sir Robert Atkins, a Conservative Member of European Parliament (MEP) and former MP, was asked by Mark Fullbrook – whose wife occupied the same parliamentary seat as Atkins once had – to provide internal government information about Ireland’s plans to introduce plain packaging.30
On 21 September 2014, Fullbrook emailed Atkins with the subject title “A job I need your urgent help with”, writing:
“Hi Robert,
Lovely to see you and Dulcie wife last night
Can you try urgently to help with finding some info
It is in the public domain that the UK Govt has issued comments on the Irish Govt’s notification process of plain packaging (tobacco) to the EU….Can you help identify which Department issued these comments and what these comments are?
On this one time is critical”
Further leaked correspondence indicated that Atkins sought the help of Philip Bradbourn, another Conservative MEP.31 Atkins writes:
“I bumped into Mark Fullbrook on Friday- husband of my successor as South Ribble MP- and he raised a problem with me…
Is there anything that you can do to elicit the information that he requires from the relevant Commissioner’s office? I gather that it is a bit urgent!”
Above correspondence raises concerns about the extent of tobacco industry influence over the UK Government’s position on plain packaging through CTF partners and its founders.
Relationship with the Alcohol Industry
In 2013, the UK Government also abandoned plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing. The government came under further fire when it was revealed that Crosby had links with the alcohol industry in addition to the tobacco industry.32
The Daily Mirror newspaper reported in May 2013 that the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) was listed on CT Group’s client list in the New South Wales (NSW) register of lobbyists. This Australian trade association has lobbied against the introduction of minimum alcohol pricing.33
The NSW Lobby Register further revealed that transnational alcohol company Diageo was a client of CT Group in 2015, 2016, and 2017.34
Relevant Link
Tobacco Tactics Resources