John Foster

Chief Policy and Campaigns Officer (Executive Committee)

John leads the CBI’s Policy and Campaigns directorate, which is responsible for the organisation’s policy output – including the international offering, public affairs function, and communications and campaigning focus.  

John joined the CBI in 2015, and most recently served as the Director of the CBI Policy Unit, leading the organisation’s work on key enablers of the economy, including regulation, infrastructure and public sector markets, whilst also providing surge capacity for business-critical issues such as COVID-19 and supply chain disruption.

Before taking on this role, John held a number of posts including the CBI’s Director of Campaigns, where he led the organisation’s work on Brexit, and as Head of the “Great Business Debate”, the CBI’s campaign to increase confidence in business.

Prior to joining the CBI, John worked for four years as a Special Adviser in the Coalition Government, including in the Cabinet Office as the Deputy Prime Minister’s Director of Policy Implementation and Innovation and in HMT as Special Adviser to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

During his time in government, John worked on the 2013 Spending Review conducted by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and served as the Deputy Prime Minister’s lead adviser on wide areas of public policy, including the NHS, welfare support, and pensions reform.