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During recent the Reform party media events, two very distinctive figures 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 political agenda for what might become the UK’s future administration, the pair share another trait in common. Each is a deeply committed believer who found religion in later life, and hold trenchant views on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

The MP Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who controls GB News and the conservative 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 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 active in the National Conservatism movement, which has connections to the US religious-populism world.

However, direct parallels soon fall down due to a basic issue of scale. While polling shows that close to a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

The UK Evangelical Vote

There is another crucial element to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals shows Labour in the lead with 26% support. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

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

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “As an instance, 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 cross-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 Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is explicit about how her beliefs shapes her politics, notably on issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” 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 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 openly a Christian, although much of this is done as a counterpoint 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 linked 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

These elements remain, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends insist they are little more than observant believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not averse to sometimes unconventional rhetoric, for example using a speech to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix 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 historic identity,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith on the right observed that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt restricted.

“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 already believe. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”