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During recent Reform UK press conferences, two very distinctive heads can often be spotted in the front row: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the duo share another trait in common. Both are deeply committed Christian who came to religion in later life, and hold strong opinions on matters of society such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, 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.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has welcomed him at his private residence. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

However, direct comparisons soon fall down due to a basic issue of numbers. While polling shows that nearly a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

There is another important factor to consider. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation in Britain is quite different.

A poll of nearly 1,500 evangelicals shows Labour in the first place with 26% support. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

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

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, 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 a way to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the political left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by 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 Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, 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.

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 branch of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” alongside anti-Muslim content.

In a dramatic display of this, a linked nationalist Christian group called 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

These elements remain, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While commentators sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, associates maintain they are little more than devout believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

Kruger is not shy of occasional off-piste language, for example in an address to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced 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 historical character,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt restricted.

“I do not get the sense of much of an organized faith-based lobby,” they said. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not particularly a vote winner.”