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During recent the Reform party media events, two very distinctive figures can often be seen in the forefront: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the political agenda for what might become the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who found religion in adulthood, and hold trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

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

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

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” with its adherents providing the core of Donald Trump’s support.

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close 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.

But any closer parallels quickly break down due to a simple matter of scale. While surveys indicate that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, 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, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the broader situation in Britain is markedly distinct.

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

Further polling demonstrate backing from evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted dying.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view voting as a way to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism is present in parliament, including all-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is explicit about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “It stems from our foundations, how we think about disparity in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

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.

The activist Tommy Robinson has begun to portray himself as explicitly Christian, although much of this is done as a contrast 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 Turning Point-allied nationalist Christian group named King’s Army paraded through Soho, a location seemingly chosen as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, associates insist they are little more than devout believers who are firmly against any politicisation 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 blend of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have a few Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it more often be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historical character,” noted an analyst.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any connections 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 foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”