A Guardian investigation has uncovered that CT Group, a lobbying firm co-founded by former Conservative strategist Lynton Crosby, secretly pays journalists to write articles for British newspapers that favor its clients. The practice appears to create a backdoor for private companies to influence public opinion.
Undercover Investigation Reveals Cash-for-Stories Scheme
Lobbyists from CT Group told an undercover reporter that they had paid journalists to place seemingly independent stories in newspapers. They offered hundreds of pounds in cash incentives to do so for a property industry client and said the deal would grant the lobbying firm increased editorial control.
The investigation began after Gavin Stollar, head of CT’s real estate division, approached a freelance journalist and offered to pay him to pitch a piece to a British national newspaper about problems caused for the housebuilding industry by the Building Safety Regulator, established after the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people. Stollar, a Liberal Democrat activist awarded an OBE in 2024, said CT Group would help with research and provide human case studies.
Details of the Payments
Other CT Group staffers proposed paying the freelance journalist to write stories for newspapers as part of its work for a leading property guardianship company, Live-In Guardians. One said: “You can do it either way. We don’t have to pay you, and you just go off and do how you normally do. Or, we can pay you, but we get more control over it.” They offered him “£100 for every story that is successfully published (national or trade)”.
In meetings, CT Group employees proposed he chair a roundtable for the company for £500 and pitch pieces to national and trade papers supporting the guardianship sector. One suggestion was to write “a call to action from the industry for [Andy] Burnham to be smart about this”. They said they did not want pieces to appear like advertorials “but clearly we’d like you to keep our client’s messaging and overall objective in mind”.
CT Group’s Denial and Industry Context
In a statement, CT Group said the events had been “deliberately mischaracterised” and that they did not engage the undercover journalist to do anything or pay him anything. CT Group is a £40m-a-year turnover lobbying company whose recent clients include Airbus Defence and Space, Philip Morris, and the owner of Manchester City football club. It has a global workforce of 150 staff.
The investigation spanned more than four months and involved discussions about placing stories in newspapers including the Financial Times and the Guardian. When the undercover reporter expressed discomfort at being paid to write something without the newspaper knowing, one lobbyist said: “I completely understand that, but I also think if you were to tell [the editor] ‘CT has commissioned me to do this’, she would instantly bat it out of the room.”
Historical Payments and Editorial Control
During a meeting, the journalist noted he would ordinarily be paid by a publication but asked: “Is there a sort of financial arrangement with CT Group as well?” A CT manager replied: “Yeah. Historically, yeah.” In a subsequent call, another lobbyist said CT Group had worked with a journalist “where I paid her to do a certain piece, a certain national piece”, but the journalist “never discloses to editors where she gets her sources from”. They described the arrangement as “a retainer”.
CT Group’s code of conduct states that “ethical and professional behaviour is at the heart of CT Group’s business” and “we never do anything we cannot justify publicly”. In its statement, the firm said it never asks journalists to behave otherwise than in accordance with professional and ethical standards.
Impact on Journalism Ethics
The Guardian’s code of practice requires journalists to tell a senior editor of any attempts to induce favorable editorial treatment through gifts or favors. The FT’s code of conduct states that “no one at the FT should abuse their position for personal profit”. The undercover journalist asked if he would tell the newspaper he was working with CT Group or pitch it as his own story. A CT staff member replied: “I think you’d pitch it in like that. No, I don’t think they need to. We can help you flesh out the angle and stuff to take to the editor.”
The investigation comes amid growing scrutiny of the lobbying industry after Peter Mandelson’s dual role as an owner of Global Counsel while serving as British ambassador to Washington. Last week, the Ethics and Integrity Commission demanded new laws to improve transparency.
