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At recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable heads can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what might become the UK’s next government, the pair share another trait in common. Both are deeply committed Christian who found religion in adulthood, and possess trenchant views on social issues such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a university scholar, are members of the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has connections to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct parallels soon fall down due to a simple matter of numbers. While surveys indicate that nearly a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional important factor to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals shows the Labour Party in the lead with 26% support. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Other questions demonstrate backing from evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted dying.

“Among evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “For example, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as a way to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelism is present in parliament, including all-party prayer group meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the political left, with figures like Kruger countered by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is explicit about how faith informs her politics, notably on issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of faith-based nationalism.

The activist Tommy Robinson has started to portray himself as explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of the Turning Point group, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Muslim content.

In a dramatic display of this, a Turning Point-allied nationalist Christian group named King’s Army paraded through Soho, a location apparently selected as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, friends maintain they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.

He has been not shy of occasional off-piste language, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a blend of ideologies.

“Here in Britain you do have a few Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it more often be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historic identity,” noted an analyst.

One Christian MP on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt limited.

“I do not get the sense of much of an organized faith-based lobby,” they commented. “In my view, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a vote winner.”