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At recent Reform UK media events, a pair of notable heads can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed Christian who came to religion in later life, and hold trenchant views on matters of society such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

Kruger, an MP, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a university scholar, also sit on the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who controls GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

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

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to the US Vice-President that he has welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

But any closer comparisons quickly break down due to a basic issue of scale. While surveys indicate that nearly a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-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 indicate the broader situation here is quite different.

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

Further polling demonstrate backing from evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including all-party prayer group meetings. But it is a reality also of the left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

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

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” she stated. “It’s part of our foundations, how we think about inequality in society, making sure we have a just system.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by US concepts of faith-based nationalism.

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

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” combined with anti-Islam content.

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

A Niche Phenomenon

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

He has been not shy of sometimes unconventional language, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a blend of ideologies.

“Here in Britain you do have a few 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 united MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt limited.

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they commented. “For me, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”