🔗 Share this article

During recent the Reform party media events, a pair of notable heads can often be seen in the front row: the near-white locks of Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of senior adviser 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 highly devout believer who came to religion in adulthood, and possess strong opinions on social issues such as abortion and the family.

A Network of Faith

Kruger, an MP, 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 Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a devout Christian.

“Religion, specifically Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents providing the core of a particular political support.

Cross-Over Connections

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

But any closer comparisons quickly break down due to a basic issue of scale. While surveys indicate that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

An additional important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the right, recent surveys by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the broader situation in Britain is markedly distinct.

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

Other questions reveal backing from evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted suicide.

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

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

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It stems from our foundations, how we think about disparity in society, ensuring we have a fair framework.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by American ideas of faith-based nationalism.

The activist Tommy Robinson has started to present 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, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Muslim 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, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, associates insist they are simply observant believers who are firmly against any political exploitation of faith.

He has been not shy of sometimes unconventional language, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix of ideologies.

“Here in Britain you do have some Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it tends to be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historical character,” noted an analyst.

A parliamentarian of faith with conservative views 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. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”