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At recent the Reform party press conferences, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the forefront: the pale hair 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 next government, the pair have something else in common. Each is a highly devout 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 university scholar, also sit on the advisory board of a conservative policy group known as the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Another member is the financier Paul Marshall, the hedge fund millionaire who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. Marshall is a practising Christian.

“Religion, specifically Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of American conservative politics,” its followers forming the bedrock of Donald Trump’s support.

Transatlantic Links

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has welcomed him at his family home. Orr is also active in the National Conservatism movement, which has ties to the American faith-based populist world.

But any closer comparisons quickly break down due to a basic issue of scale. While polling shows that nearly a quarter of US adults are evangelical Christians, the proportion for the UK is roughly one-tenth of that at most.

A Different Landscape

There is another crucial element to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the political right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation in Britain is quite different.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places the Labour Party in the lead with over a quarter backing. The Reform party and 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 permit assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people cast their ballot,” said one advocacy head. “For example, someone might have a firm stance on abortion, but they don’t see voting as a way to lead to change.”

Faith Across the Aisle

Evangelism does exist in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the political left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

She has been very open about how her beliefs shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” 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

There is, however a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of faith-based nationalism.

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 branch of Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic 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 centre of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

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

Kruger is not shy of sometimes unconventional rhetoric, for example in an address to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a blend 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,” said one commentator.

A parliamentarian of faith with conservative views noted that while the issue of assisted dying had united MPs with faith, any links 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.”