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At recent the Reform party media events, a pair of notable figures can often be seen in the forefront: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

As well as guiding the political agenda for what could be the UK’s future administration, the duo have something else in common. Both are highly devout Christian who found religion in later life, and hold trenchant views on social issues such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

A Network of Faith

The MP Kruger, who defected 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 Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the conservative Spectator magazine. Marshall is a practising 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

There are some links. Orr is personally connected to the US Vice-President that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also active 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 scale. While polling shows that close to a fourth of US adults are evangelicals, the figure for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

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

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the first place with 26% support. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are level 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 dying.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including all-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality also of the political left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

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

A Newer Strain

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on American ideas of religious nationalism.

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

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

One striking manifestation of this, a linked nationalist Christian group called King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location apparently selected 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 wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, associates maintain they are simply devout believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not averse to sometimes unconventional rhetoric, for example using a speech to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have some 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,” 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 organized faith-based lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”