🔗 Share this article

At recent the Reform party press conferences, a pair of notable figures can often be seen in the front row: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of 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 later life, and hold trenchant views on social issues 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 steering committee of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” its followers forming the bedrock of Donald Trump’s support.

Transatlantic Links

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to JD Vance that he has hosted him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

But any closer comparisons soon fall down due to a simple matter of numbers. While surveys indicate that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the political right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture here is quite different.

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

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

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, 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

Evangelical belief does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality present on 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, notably on issues such as poverty.

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

A Newer Strain

Nonetheless, there exists a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of religious nationalism.

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

Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” combined with anti-Muslim content.

One striking display of this, a Turning Point-allied Christian nationalist group called 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 financial backers of US-style evangelism, friends maintain they are little more than observant believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not shy of sometimes unconventional language, for example in an address to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced 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 Christian nostalgia, linked to our historical character,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith with conservative views observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any connections 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 basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a vote winner.”