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During recent the Reform party media events, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the forefront: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the political agenda for what could be the UK’s future administration, the duo share another trait in common. Both are highly devout Christian who found religion in adulthood, and possess trenchant views 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 the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a devout Christian.

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

Cross-Over Connections

There are some links. Orr is personally connected to JD Vance that he has welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the National Conservatism movement, which has connections to the American faith-based populist world.

But any closer parallels quickly break down due to a simple matter of scale. While polling shows that nearly a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

There is another important factor to consider. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the broader situation in Britain is quite different.

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

Further polling reveal backing from evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, especially on social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they don’t see voting as a way to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including all-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, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about disparity in society, ensuring we have a fair framework.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of religious nationalism.

The activist Tommy Robinson has begun to portray himself as explicitly Christian, although much of this is done as a contrast to Islam.

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

In a dramatic display of this, a Turning Point-allied Christian nationalist group named King’s Army paraded through Soho, a location seemingly chosen as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, associates insist they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation 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 blend 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,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP on the right noted that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt limited.

“I certainly don’t get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they commented. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not particularly a vote winner.”