Faith and Reform: Is the Religious Right on the Rise in British Political Life?

At recent the Reform party press conferences, two very distinctive heads can often be seen in the front row: the near-white locks of party policy chief Danny Kruger and the swept-back blond mane of James Orr.

Beyond shaping the policy programme for what might become the UK’s future administration, the duo share another trait in common. Both are highly devout believer who came to religion in adulthood, and hold strong opinions on social issues such as reproductive rights and the family.

A Network of Faith

The MP Kruger, 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.

Another member 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 a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents forming the bedrock of Donald Trump’s support.

Cross-Over Connections

Parallels do exist. Orr is personally connected to the US Vice-President that he has hosted him at his family home. Orr is also involved in the NatCon movement, which has ties to the US religious-populism world.

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

The UK Evangelical Vote

An additional crucial element to consider. While US evangelicals tilt strongly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance indicate the broader situation here is markedly distinct.

Research of nearly 1,500 evangelicals places Labour in the first place with 26% support. The Reform party and Liberal Democrats are level on 20%, with the Conservatives on 18%.

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

“Sometimes with evangelicals there can be a dissonance between opinions, particularly regarding social issues, and how people vote,” explained a representative. “As an instance, 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

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including cross-party faith-based meetings. But it is a phenomenon also of the political left, with figures like Kruger balanced out by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour MP Rachael Maskell.

She has been explicit about how faith shapes her politics, especially concerning issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Moral justice was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” Maskell argued. “It stems from our roots, how we think about inequality in society, making sure we have a fair framework.”

Emerging Currents

Nonetheless, there exists a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of faith-based nationalism.

The activist Tommy Robinson has started to present himself as explicitly Christian, though a lot of this is done as a counterpoint to Islam.

In a similar vein, Nick Tenconi, who leads the UK outpost of the Turning Point group, includes social media messaging about the country needing to “return to Christ” alongside anti-Islam content.

In a dramatic display of this, a Turning Point-allied Christian nationalist group named King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location apparently selected as it is the heart of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While commentators sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, associates maintain they are simply devout believers who are strongly opposed to any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to occasional off-piste rhetoric, for example using a speech to condemn what he said was a younger generation influenced by a blend of ideologies.

“Here in Britain 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.

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 do not get the sense of much of an evangelical lobby,” they said. “For me, my faith is more a basis for what I already believe. And here, religion is not really a vote winner.”