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During recent the Reform party media events, a pair of notable heads can often be spotted in the front row: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the political agenda for what could be the UK’s next government, the pair share another trait in common. Each is a highly devout Christian who found religion in later life, and possess strong opinions 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, are members of the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

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

“Religion, specifically Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents providing the core of Donald Trump’s support.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to JD Vance that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also active in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

However, direct parallels quickly break down due to a basic issue of numbers. While polling shows that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

An additional important factor to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture in Britain is markedly distinct.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places Labour 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 concerted alarm about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelical belief does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the political left, with figures like Kruger countered by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been explicit about how faith shapes her politics, notably on issues such as poverty.

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

A Newer Strain

Nonetheless, there exists a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of religious nationalism.

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

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

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

A Niche Phenomenon

All this remains, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While commentators sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends maintain they are little more than devout believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example in an address 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 more often be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historic identity,” said one commentator.

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 certainly don’t get the sense of much of an organized faith-based lobby,” they commented. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”