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At recent Reform UK media events, two very distinctive heads can often be seen in the front row: the near-white locks of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the political agenda for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Both are highly devout believer who found religion in later life, and possess trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

The MP Kruger, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire 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 a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

There are some links. Orr is personally connected to JD Vance that he has hosted him at his family home. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct comparisons soon fall down due to a basic issue of numbers. While surveys indicate that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at the very most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

There is another important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture here is markedly distinct.

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

Further polling demonstrate support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, 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 phenomenon also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how faith informs her politics, notably on issues such as economic disadvantage.

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

Emerging Currents

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

Tommy Robinson has started 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 outpost of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Muslim content.

In a dramatic manifestation of this, a linked Christian nationalist group named King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location seemingly chosen 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 wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, associates maintain they are little more than observant believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix 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 Christian nostalgia, linked to our historic identity,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt limited.

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”