Currents of Christian nationalism that have been churning below ground for years in the United Kingdom are beginning to flood into the streets.
A new 72-page report, Beyond Christian Nationalism: Measuring Attitudes to Christianity and Britishness, by the ecumenical think tank Theos hopes to clarify the complex relationship between Christianity and national identity in the UK.
Thus far, the concept of Christian nationalism largely has been defined by the more cohesive American version across the Atlantic. While there certainly are parallels and commonalities between the British and American versions, Christian nationalism functions and expresses itself differently in a country that has no constitutional separation of church and state and where religion is closely intertwined with public education, the monarchy and Parliament.
Thus far, the concept of Christian nationalism largely has been defined by the more cohesive American version across the Atlantic.
The Ideas Workshop, a branch of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, funded Theos research into Christian nationalism. In April 2026, with help from the independent market research agency RED C, Theos surveyed 1,765 adults on matters such as immigration, ethnicity, Islam, politics and current affairs to determine whether or not they thought it was necessary to be a Christian to be truly British. Theos conducted similar research into Christian nationalism in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
In a panel discussion with Religion Media Center, Theos senior fellow and report co-author Nick Spencer said, “Christian nationalists don’t come with a barcode, right? So, it’s not a question of in or out. You have to ask a range of questions and then detect patterns within the population.”
Participants’ responses revealed five distinct “orientations” in the UK toward Christianity and national identity. Two groups, totaling half of those surveyed, believe Christianity and Britishness should be separate, while the other three groups want to integrate Christianity into what it means to be British.
Committed Separatists
Theos classified a third of those sampled (34%) as Committed Separatists who think Christianity and Britishness have nothing to do with one another and should remain politically separate. While most Committed Separatists are not religious, 23% consider themselves Christians, 16% believe in God or a higher power, 13% found religion important and 5% attend church weekly.
Even though they prefer to keep religion out of politics, half the group agreed with the statement: “Christian values require that we welcome and support asylum seekers.” Members of this group also are more likely to be female, younger, better educated and of a higher social class than others surveyed.
Cultural Separatists
The other separatist group, totaling 16% of respondents, is the Cultural Separatists. Middle-aged and generally of a lower economic bracket, but equally non-religious, the Cultural Separatists also wish to keep religion out of politics.
However, when it comes to culture, they want the UK still to feel Christian without being Christian. They vehemently oppose the conversion of old churches into mosques and the immigration of diverse ethnicities, especially Muslim asylum seekers, into the country.
Values Integrationists
Roughly a quarter (26%) of Brits fall into the category of Values Integrationists because they believe the Christian values inherent in Britain’s history and cultural institutions are positive and worth preserving. They favor a “soft institutional entanglement” between Christianity and the government, law and culture of Britain, including a formal declaration from Parliament that the UK is a Christian nation.
More than half of Values Integrationists are Christian (58%) and 30% say religion is important to them, but only 13% are weekly church attenders. Generally optimistic and older than others surveyed, the members of this group are not marching in the street to protect Christianity.
Identity Integrationists
The 11% of participants who comprise the Identity Integrationists are closest to the American version of Christian nationalists. They believe to be truly British one must be a Christian. Identity Integrationists are dedicated to the creeds, heritage and culture of Christianity and concerned about its decline in Britain.
The 11% of participants who comprise the Identity Integrationists are closest to the American version of Christian nationalists.
“Now with all those factors you would expect commensurately high levels of church attendance,” Spencer said. “But what you actually find in this particular group is 13% say they’re weekly attenders and that compares to 11% for the total sample.”
According to panelist Robert Jones, president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute, this is markedly different from Christian nationalists in the United States who are more likely than the average American to attend church.
“In the U.S., there is this mythology that the people more likely to be Christian nationalists are less church attenders. It is false. In the U.S. you are more likely to go to church, you were more likely to read the Bible, you were more likely to pray,” Jones explained.
This group of integrationists believes being white is part of Britishness, and 84% think the UK is currently too “ethnically mixed.” They are anti-immigration and believe in the “Great Replacement” theory, a far-right conspiracy theory that alleges white Europeans are being intentionally replaced by non-white immigrants.
The most anxious of the five orientations, Identity Integrationists fear rising crime, threats from Russia, gender identity and threats to the freedom of speech, in addition to their panic over immigration. They overwhelmingly (71%) agreed with the statement: “Right now we need ‘strong man’ political leaders who are prepared to break the rules.”
Belief Integrationists
If Identity Integrationists seek to use Christianity to promote nationalism, Belief Integrationists are willing to use nationalism to promote Christianity. Younger, predominantly male, educated and more ethnically diverse, the Belief Integrationists, who make up 13% of those surveyed, have the highest percentage of practicing Christians in their group. They also believe in the Great Replacement theory, support a potential strong man leader (62%) and a quarter of them condone political violence to achieve their religious and nationalist goals.
“We need to explore what are those theological ideas, but also maybe more importantly ways of doing church that might allow these kind of views to percolate among people who are who are very churched, said John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter and Bristol Baptist College. “And that could include church structures which lack accountability, structures where you have strongman leaders and pastors. It could include ideas of dominionism.”
Is Christian nationalism growing in the UK?
Although right-wing figures in the UK like Tommy Robinson and Danny Thomas, along with their supporters, are certainly making their presence known in the streets, and politicians for the far-right Reform and Restore parties are doing the same on the stump, it’s unclear if Christian nationalism is increasing in the UK or just garnering more media attention.
Jones argues that in the U.S. and the UK, Christian nationalism is “hardening” rather than growing, adding, “About three in 10 Christian adherents say political violence should be or may be necessary. I think that’s the real danger: Both the violence and the willingness to subvert democracy in the interest of preserving a kind of white Christian nationalist state.”
While a few Belief Integrationists might be open to discussing the theology behind Christian nationalism, for the majority of those surveyed the debate about Christianity and Britishness is a cultural one. Rather than issues of dogma, theology or personal belief, Brits are most concerned about the intersection of Christianity with identity, tradition and heritage.
People “find themselves increasingly needing to define their identity, who they are, what they believe, what makes us us. And in doing so, because we’ve not had a huge amount of practice at that, you get some people to do that in a very kind of exclusionary and hostile way,” Spencer said.
Without a moral narrative in politics to guide them, people are reverting to and repurposing the cultural Christianity of the past.
“There’s a sense of nostalgia,” Jones added. “It’s loss and nostalgia and restoration. That’s the narrative arc to these movements. And I do think the center and center left have really not met it at that narrative level with, ‘Here’s the alternative story of who we are.’ I think that’s where a lot of actually creative theological work, constructive political work, really needs to be done.”