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At recent Reform UK media events, two very distinctive figures can often be spotted in the front row: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what might become the UK’s next government, the pair share another trait in common. Both are highly devout Christian who came to religion in later life, and possess strong opinions on social issues such as abortion and the family.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a university scholar, also sit on the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a practising Christian.

“Religion, specifically evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been a key characteristic 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 JD Vance that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

However, direct comparisons quickly break down due to a simple matter of scale. While polling shows that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

There is another crucial element to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the broader situation in Britain is quite different.

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

Other questions demonstrate backing from evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to permit assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including all-party prayer group meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been very open about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.

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

A Newer Strain

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 openly a Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

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

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

Limited Influence

These elements remain, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of US-style evangelism, friends maintain they are little more than observant believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to sometimes unconventional language, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a blend of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have a few Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it more often be a sort of Christian nostalgia, linked to our historic identity,” noted an analyst.

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