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At recent the Reform party media events, two very distinctive figures can often be seen in the forefront: the pale hair of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the pair share another trait in common. Both are deeply committed believer who came to religion in adulthood, and possess trenchant views on social issues such as abortion and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

Kruger, an MP, who switched allegiance from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, also sit on the advisory board of a conservative policy group called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who owns GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a practising Christian.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” with its adherents forming the bedrock of a particular political support.

Cross-Over Connections

There are some links. Orr is sufficiently close to JD Vance that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also active in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

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

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional important factor to take into account. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the wider picture in Britain is quite different.

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

Other questions demonstrate backing from evangelicals for increased welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted dying.

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, especially on 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 a way to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism is present in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a reality also of 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, notably on issues such as poverty.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It’s part of our roots, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

A Newer Strain

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one influenced by US concepts of religious 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.

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK branch of the Turning Point group, posts social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic manifestation 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.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While commentators sometimes depict certain figures as financial backers of American-style religious politics, friends insist they are simply observant believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to sometimes unconventional rhetoric, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated 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 Christian nostalgia, linked to our historic identity,” noted an analyst.

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

“I do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “In my view, my faith is more a foundation for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”