Faith and Reform: Could the Conservative Christian Wing Gaining Ground in UK Politics?

At recent Reform UK media events, a pair of notable figures can often be spotted in the forefront: the pale hair of Danny Kruger and the styled blond hair of senior adviser James Orr.

Beyond shaping the policy programme for what could be the UK’s future administration, the duo have something else in common. Both are highly devout believer who came to religion in adulthood, and hold strong opinions on matters of society such as reproductive rights and the traditional family unit.

Connections and Convictions

The MP Kruger, who defected from the Conservatives, and Orr, a Cambridge academic, are members of the advisory board of a conservative policy group called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

A further participant is the financier Paul Marshall, the investment tycoon who controls GB News and the rightwing Spectator magazine. He is also a devout Christian.

“Faith, particularly Protestant evangelism, has in recent decades been a key characteristic of US rightwing politics,” with its adherents providing the core of Donald Trump’s support.

Cross-Over Connections

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

However, direct comparisons soon fall down due to a simple matter of scale. While surveys indicate that close to a quarter of US adults are evangelicals, the proportion for the UK is about a tenth of that at the very most.

A Different Landscape

There is another crucial element to consider. While US evangelicals lean firmly to the right, new polling by the UK’s Evangelical Alliance suggests that the wider picture in Britain is markedly distinct.

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

Other questions demonstrate support among evangelicals for more generous welfare payments, but also significant concern about plans to legalise assisted suicide.

“Among evangelicals there can be a dissonance between personal views, especially on 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.”

Cross-Party Belief

Evangelical belief is present in parliament, including cross-party prayer group meetings. But it is a phenomenon present on the left, with figures like Kruger countered by the Lib Dem Tim Farron and the Labour Party Member of Parliament Rachael Maskell.

Maskell is very open about how faith shapes her politics, notably on issues such as economic disadvantage.

“Ethical fairness was ‘a big part’ of the party's ethos,” she stated. “It stems from our foundations, how we think about inequality in society, ensuring we have a just system.”

Emerging Currents

There is, however a different and newer side to religion in UK politics, one more closely modelled on US concepts of religious nationalism.

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

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

In a dramatic manifestation of this, a linked Christian nationalist group named King’s Army marched in formation through Soho, a location apparently selected as it is the centre of London’s LGBT community.

Limited Influence

All this remains, however, fairly niche in UK politics. While critics sometimes portray certain figures as wealthy incubators of US-style evangelism, friends insist they are simply observant believers who are firmly against any politicisation of faith.

He has been not averse to sometimes unconventional language, for example using a speech to censure what he said was a younger generation influenced by a mix of ideologies.

“Here in Britain you do have some Christian nationalists, but when it comes to politics it tends to be a sort of longing for a Christian past, linked to our historical character,” said one commentator.

One Christian MP with conservative views observed 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 commented. “In my view, my faith is more a foundation for what I personally hold. And here, religion is not particularly a decisive electoral issue.”