🔗 Share this article

At recent the Reform party press conferences, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the forefront: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the political agenda for what might become the UK’s next government, the duo share another trait in common. Both are highly devout Christian who found religion in adulthood, and possess strong opinions on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the family.

Connections and Convictions

Kruger, an MP, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a university scholar, are members of the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a devout 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.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to JD Vance that he has welcomed him at his private residence. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

But any closer comparisons quickly break down due to a simple matter of numbers. While polling shows that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

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 broader situation here is markedly distinct.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places Labour in the first place with over a quarter backing. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Further polling reveal support among evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to permit assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “For example, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

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

Maskell is very open about how faith informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

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

Emerging Currents

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of religious nationalism.

The activist Tommy Robinson has started to present himself as explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of the Turning Point group, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” 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.

Limited Influence

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends maintain they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

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

“Here in Britain 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,” noted an analyst.

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