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During recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the front row: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what might become the UK’s next government, the duo have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed Christian who came to religion in adulthood, and hold trenchant views on social issues such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” its followers forming the bedrock of a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has hosted 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 parallels soon fall down due to a basic issue of numbers. While surveys indicate that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelical Christians, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

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

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

Further polling demonstrate support among evangelicals for increased 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 vote,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as a way 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 faith informs her politics, notably on issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” she stated. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a fair framework.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by American ideas of religious nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has started to present himself as explicitly Christian, although much of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

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

One striking manifestation of this, a Turning Point-allied nationalist Christian group called King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location apparently selected as it is the centre of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While commentators sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends insist they are little more than observant believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to sometimes unconventional 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 tends to be a sort of Christian nostalgia, linked to our historical character,” noted an analyst.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any links 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 already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a vote winner.”