🔗 Share this article

During recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks of Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a highly devout believer who found religion in adulthood, and possess trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the family.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the steering committee of a conservative policy group known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a practising Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements 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 active in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

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

A Different Landscape

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

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

Further polling demonstrate backing from evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted dying.

“Among evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, particularly regarding social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “As an instance, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they don’t see voting as a way to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelical belief does exist in parliament, including cross-party prayer group meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how her beliefs shapes her politics, notably on issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, making sure we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

Nonetheless, there exists a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by US concepts of faith-based nationalism.

The activist 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 “re-embrace Christianity” combined with anti-Muslim content.

One striking display of this, a linked nationalist Christian 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, relatively marginal in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of US-style evangelism, associates maintain they are simply observant believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to occasional off-piste language, for example using a speech to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a blend of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have some 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 with conservative views noted that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt limited.

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