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During recent Reform UK press conferences, two very distinctive figures can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair share another trait in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who found religion in later life, and hold strong opinions on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the family.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the advisory board of a conservative policy group called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

“Religion, specifically evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” its followers forming the bedrock of Donald Trump’s support.

Transatlantic Links

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to JD Vance that he has welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

But any closer comparisons soon fall down due to a basic issue of scale. While polling shows that close to a fourth of US adults are evangelical Christians, the figure for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

An additional crucial element to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation here is markedly distinct.

A poll of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the first place with 26% support. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Other questions reveal support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“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 strong opinion on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism is present in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “It stems from our roots, how we think about disparity in society, making sure we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

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

The activist Tommy Robinson has begun to present himself as explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a contrast to Islam.

Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Muslim content.

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

Limited Influence

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, associates maintain they are simply observant believers who are firmly against 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 influenced by a mix of ideologies.

“Here in Britain you do have some Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it more often be a sort of Christian nostalgia, linked to our historical character,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt limited.

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”