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During recent Reform UK press conferences, two very distinctive heads can often be seen in the front row: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what could be the UK’s next government, the pair share another trait in common. Both are deeply committed believer who found religion in later life, and possess 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 university scholar, are members of the steering committee 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 rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents 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 welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has connections to the American faith-based populist world.

But any closer comparisons quickly break down due to a simple matter of scale. While polling shows that close to 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 important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation here is markedly distinct.

A poll of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the first place with 26% support. 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 significant concern about plans to permit assisted dying.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “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

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including all-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by 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 poverty.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our foundations, how we think about disparity in society, making sure 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 faith-based nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has started to portray himself as openly a Christian, though a lot 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, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Islam content.

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

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as financial backers of US-style evangelism, friends insist they are little more than observant believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not averse to occasional off-piste language, for example using a speech to condemn what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a blend of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have some Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it tends to be a sort of Christian nostalgia, linked to our historic identity,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP on the right noted 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. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a vote winner.”