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During recent Reform UK media events, a pair of notable heads can often be seen in the forefront: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what might become the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a highly devout Christian who came to religion in adulthood, and possess strong opinions on social issues such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who owns GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. He is also a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents providing the core of Donald Trump’s 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 ties to the American faith-based populist world.

However, direct parallels quickly break down due to a basic issue of scale. While surveys indicate that nearly a fourth 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 lean firmly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture here is quite different.

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

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

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including all-party prayer group 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 very open about how faith informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It stems from our foundations, how we think about disparity in society, making sure we have a fair framework.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of faith-based nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has begun to portray himself as explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of Turning Point, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Islam content.

One striking display of this, a Turning Point-allied nationalist Christian group named King’s Army paraded through Soho, a location seemingly chosen as it is the centre of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, relatively marginal in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, friends maintain they are little more than devout believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to sometimes unconventional language, 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 longing for a Christian past, linked to our historical character,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP on the right noted 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 organized faith-based lobby,” they said. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”