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At recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable heads can often be spotted in the forefront: the near-white locks of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who found religion in later life, and possess trenchant views on social issues such as reproductive rights 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 advisory board of a rightwing thinktank called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls 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,” its followers providing the core of a particular political support.

Cross-Over Connections

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to JD Vance that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has connections to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct parallels soon fall down due to a basic issue of numbers. While polling shows that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, the figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

An additional important factor to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

Research 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%.

Other questions reveal support among evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelical belief does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been explicit about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

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

A Newer Strain

Nonetheless, there exists a distinct and more recent 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 explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

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

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

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, friends maintain they are little more than observant believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to occasional off-piste rhetoric, 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 a few Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it tends to be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historic identity,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith with conservative views noted that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt limited.

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