🔗 Share this article

At recent Reform UK press conferences, a pair of notable heads can often be seen in the forefront: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what could be the UK’s next government, the duo share another trait in common. Both are highly devout believer who found religion in later life, and hold trenchant views 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 Cambridge academic, are members of the steering committee of a conservative policy group called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” its followers forming the bedrock of a particular political support.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to JD Vance that he has hosted 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 soon fall down due to a simple matter of numbers. While polling shows that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional important factor to consider. 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 places the Labour Party in the lead with over a quarter backing. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

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

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, especially on social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “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

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

She has been explicit about how faith shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

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

Emerging Currents

There is, however a distinct and more recent 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 outpost of the Turning Point group, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic manifestation of this, a Turning Point-allied nationalist Christian group named King’s Army paraded 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 commentators sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, associates maintain they are simply observant believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to sometimes unconventional language, for example in an address to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced by a blend of ideologies.

“Here in Britain 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.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right noted that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt limited.

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”