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During recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable heads can often be seen in the front row: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

Beyond shaping the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the duo have something else in common. Both are deeply committed Christian who found religion in adulthood, and hold trenchant views on social issues such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

Kruger, an MP, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a university scholar, 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.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents providing the core of a particular political support.

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has welcomed him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the National Conservatism movement, which has connections to the American faith-based populist world.

But any closer comparisons soon fall down due to a simple matter of scale. While polling shows that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at the very most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional crucial element to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture here is quite different.

A poll of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the first place with over a quarter backing. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Further polling reveal support among evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see 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 left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been explicit about how faith informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

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

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

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of the Turning Point group, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” alongside anti-Muslim content.

One striking display of this, a linked nationalist Christian group called King’s Army paraded through Soho, a location apparently selected as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends insist they are simply observant believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not averse to occasional off-piste language, for example using a speech to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have some Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it tends to be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historical character,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt restricted.

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