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

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what might become the UK’s next government, the pair have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who found religion in later life, and possess strong opinions on matters of society such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on 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. Marshall is a devout Christian.

“Religion, specifically Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

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

But any closer parallels soon fall down due to a basic issue of scale. While surveys indicate that close to a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-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 political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation here is markedly distinct.

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

Other questions reveal 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, especially on 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.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including cross-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 MP Rachael Maskell.

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

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “It’s part of our foundations, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a fair framework.”

Emerging Currents

Nonetheless, there exists a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by American ideas of religious nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has started to present himself as openly a Christian, though a lot 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 “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 heart of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While commentators sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, friends maintain they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to occasional off-piste language, for example using a speech to censure what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a mix of ideologies.

“Here in Britain 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.

A parliamentarian of faith with conservative views observed that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt restricted.

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “For me, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”