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At recent the Reform party media events, two very distinctive heads can often be seen in the front row: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what might become the UK’s future administration, the duo 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 abortion and the family.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the advisory board of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. Marshall is a devout Christian.

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

Transatlantic Links

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

But any closer comparisons soon fall down due to a simple matter of numbers. While polling shows that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

There is another important factor to consider. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

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

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

“Among evangelicals there can be a gap between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including all-party prayer group meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the political left, with figures like Kruger countered by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been very open about how her beliefs informs her politics, notably on issues such as poverty.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” she stated. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about disparity in society, ensuring 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 American ideas of faith-based nationalism.

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

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of Turning Point, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic display of this, a linked 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, relatively marginal in UK politics. While commentators 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.

Kruger is not averse to occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example in an address to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix 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.

One Christian MP on the right noted 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 organized faith-based lobby,” they said. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a vote winner.”