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At 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 styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what could be the UK’s next government, the pair have something else in common. Each is a highly devout Christian who came to religion in adulthood, and possess trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns 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 American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of Donald Trump’s support.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to the US Vice-President that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has connections to the American faith-based populist world.

But any closer parallels quickly break down due to a basic issue of scale. While polling shows that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, the figure for the UK is about a tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

An additional important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture here is markedly distinct.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the lead with 26% support. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Further polling reveal support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as a way to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including all-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality present on the left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how her beliefs informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about disparity in society, ensuring we have a fair framework.”

Emerging Currents

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

Tommy Robinson has started to present himself as explicitly Christian, although much of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of Turning Point, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Muslim content.

In a dramatic display of this, a linked Christian nationalist 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, fairly niche 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.

Kruger is not shy of occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example using a speech to condemn what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a mix of ideologies.

“Here in Britain 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.

One Christian MP with conservative views observed that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any connections 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 foundation for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”