🔗 Share this article

At recent the Reform party press conferences, two very distinctive heads can often be seen in the forefront: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of James Orr.

As well as guiding the policy programme for what might become the UK’s future administration, the pair have something else in common. Each is a deeply committed Christian who came to religion in later life, and possess trenchant views 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 university scholar, are members of the steering committee of a rightwing thinktank 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.

“Faith, particularly evangelical Christianity, has in recent decades been one of the defining elements of American conservative politics,” its followers providing the core of a particular political support.

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is sufficiently close to the US Vice-President that he has hosted him at his private residence. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has connections to the US religious-populism world.

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

A Different Landscape

There is another important factor to consider. While US evangelicals lean firmly 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 shows Labour in the first place with 26% support. Reform and the Liberal Democrats are tied on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

Other questions demonstrate support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also concerted alarm about plans to permit assisted suicide.

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a gap between opinions, especially on social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “For example, someone might have a strong opinion on abortion, but they do not view voting as a way to lead to change.”

Cross-Party Belief

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

Maskell is explicit about how her beliefs shapes her politics, notably on issues such as poverty.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of Labour politics,” Maskell argued. “It stems from our roots, how we think about inequality in society, making sure we have a just system.”

A Newer Strain

Nonetheless, there exists a distinct and more recent side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of religious nationalism.

Tommy Robinson has started 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 Turning Point, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “re-embrace Christianity” combined with anti-Muslim content.

One striking manifestation of this, a linked nationalist Christian group named King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location seemingly chosen as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

A Niche Phenomenon

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of American-style religious politics, friends insist they are little more than devout believers who are strongly opposed to any political exploitation of faith.

Kruger is not averse to occasional off-piste language, for example using a speech to censure what he said was a younger generation indoctrinated by a mix of ideologies.

“In the UK you do have a few 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.

One Christian MP with conservative views noted that while the issue of assisted dying had helped bring together MPs with faith, any links beyond that felt restricted.

“I certainly don’t get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they commented. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not really a decisive electoral issue.”