During recent Reform UK press conferences, two very distinctive figures can often be spotted in the front row: the pale hair of 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 duo have something else in common. Both are deeply committed Christian who found religion in adulthood, and hold strong opinions on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the family.
Connections and Convictions
The MP Kruger, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the steering committee of a conservative policy group 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 conservative Spectator magazine. He is also a devout Christian.
“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents forming the bedrock of Donald Trump’s support.
Transatlantic Links
Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to JD Vance that he has welcomed him at his private residence. Orr is also active in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.
However, direct parallels quickly break down due to a basic issue 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 most.
A Different Landscape
There is another crucial element to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture here is quite different.
A poll of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the lead with 26% support. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.
Further polling reveal support among evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to permit assisted dying.
“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, especially on social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” said one advocacy head. “As an instance, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they do not view voting as likely to lead to change.”
Faith Across the Aisle
Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including all-party prayer group meetings. But it is a reality present on the left, with figures like Kruger countered by Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.
She has been explicit about how faith informs her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.
“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” she stated. “It stems from our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring 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 American ideas of faith-based nationalism.
The activist Tommy Robinson has started to portray himself as openly a Christian, although much of this is done as a contrast to Islam.
Similarly, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of the Turning Point group, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” combined with anti-Muslim content.
In a dramatic display of this, a Turning Point-allied Christian nationalist group called 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, friends insist they are little more than observant believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.
He has been not shy of sometimes unconventional rhetoric, for example in an address to censure 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,” noted an analyst.
One Christian MP with conservative views noted that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any connections beyond that felt restricted.
“I certainly don’t get the sense of much of an organized faith-based lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a vote winner.”
