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During recent the Reform party media events, two very distinctive heads can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks 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 have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who came to religion in adulthood, and hold trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights 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 conservative policy group called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of American conservative 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 hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct 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 figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

There is another crucial element to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the broader situation here is markedly distinct.

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

Other questions reveal support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted dying.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view 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 phenomenon also of the political left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is explicit about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our foundations, how we think about inequality in society, making sure we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of religious nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has begun to portray himself as openly a Christian, although much 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” combined with anti-Islam content.

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

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, friends maintain they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.

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

“Here in Britain you do have a few 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.

One Christian MP 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 evangelical lobby,” they commented. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”