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At recent the Reform party media events, a pair of notable heads can often be seen in the forefront: the near-white locks of party policy chief 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 next government, the duo have something else in common. Each is a highly devout Christian who came to religion in later life, and possess trenchant views on social issues such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

The MP Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the advisory board of a conservative policy group known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. Marshall is a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents forming the bedrock 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 National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

But any closer parallels quickly break down due to a simple matter 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 the very most.

A Different Landscape

There is another crucial element to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places Labour in the lead with over a quarter backing. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Further polling demonstrate backing from 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 opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “As an instance, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelism is present in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the political left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is explicit about how faith informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” she stated. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

There is, however a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of faith-based nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has begun to present 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 branch of Turning Point, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Muslim content.

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

A Niche Phenomenon

All this remains, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, friends insist they are simply devout believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not shy of occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced 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 Christian nostalgia, linked to our historical character,” noted an analyst.

One Christian MP with conservative views observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt restricted.

“I certainly don’t get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they commented. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”