🔗 Share this article

At recent Reform UK media events, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the front row: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the policy programme for what might become the UK’s next government, the pair share another trait 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

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

Another member is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire 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 American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of Donald Trump’s support.

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has hosted him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct comparisons soon fall down due to a simple matter of scale. While surveys indicate that close to a fourth of US adults are evangelical Christians, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

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

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals shows 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 reveal support among evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Among evangelicals there can be a gap between opinions, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” explained a representative. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelical belief does exist in parliament, including all-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality also of the left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

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

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “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.

Tommy Robinson has started to portray himself as openly a Christian, though a lot of this is done as a contrast to Islam.

Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of the Turning Point group, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic manifestation of this, a Turning Point-allied Christian nationalist group called King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location seemingly chosen as it is the centre of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of US-style evangelism, friends maintain they are simply devout 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 condemn what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a mix of ideologies.

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

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