Christianity and Nationalism in the UK

To provide a clear, theologically grounded and pastorally wise overview of the current discussions around Christianity and nationalism in the UK, clarifying the Evangelical Alliance's perspective and supporting faithful witness in public life.

The term Christian nationalism is being used with increasing frequency in the UK, raising deep questions about identity, belonging, power, and Christian witness in public life. While love of country and gratitude for the UK’s Christian heritage can be healthy and appropriate, the blending of Christian faith with exclusionary or coercive forms of nationalism risks distorting the gospel and undermining Christian mission.

This moment presents both a missional opportunity and a discipleship challenge. Christians are called to engage confidently in public life, while ensuring that Christ rather than nation, party, or ideology, remains the focus of ultimate allegiance.

Christian nationalism broadly refers to ideas that closely fuse Christian identity with national identity, asserting that a nation’s culture, laws, and leadership should explicitly reflect Christianity and that Christianity should enjoy a privileged position in society.

Although the phenomenon is most visible in the United States, related ideas are increasingly shaping UK conversations around faith, identity, immigration, Islam, and public life. Political movements and activists, particularly on the right and far right, have increasingly used Christian language, symbols, and appeals directed at “preserving” the UK’s Christian heritage to advance nationalist agendas.

The Evangelical Alliance has consistently affirmed gratitude for the UK’s Christian heritage and the legitimacy of Christian engagement in the public square, while resisting any ideology that compromises Christ-like witness, democratic norms, or the equal dignity of all people.

Christianity in the UK

• Around 46% of the population identifies as Christian.
• Approximately 7.5% are practising Christians; around 3% are estimated to be evangelical.
• Christianity has profoundly shaped British values such as the rule of law, human dignity, compassion, and democratic accountability, even as secularisation and pluralism continue to reshape the moral landscape.

Nationalism(s) in the UK

• Nationalism in the UK takes multiple forms, including Scottish and Welsh independence movements, English identity, British patriotism, and the particular complexities of Northern Ireland.
• Nationalism is not inherently right- or left-wing (e.g. SNP, Plaid Cymru, Reform, DUP).
• Nationalism can express either healthy civic pride and democratic participation, or exclusionary, populist, and authoritarian tendencies.

The term is contested and embraced by some while being rejected by others. At its broadest, Christian nationalism can be defined as an ideology that seeks to fuse national identity with a specific form of Christianity. It typically argues that a nation’s laws, culture and institutions should reflect Christian values, often claiming that the nation was historically founded on Christianity and must return to that heritage.

Luke Bretherton, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford, has argued against using the term at all, because he argues it lacks analytical depth and academic adequacy and is heavily shaped by the North American context. He also makes the case it reduces complex political phenomena to a single issue, while paying too little attention to class, political economy and material conditions.¹

These categories show that “Christian nationalism” in the UK is not a single movement but a spectrum – from heartfelt discipleship that shapes patriotism, to faith-as-heritage nostalgia, to outright political branding.

While Christian nationalism takes different forms, three theological streams have been particularly influential in shaping its ideas.³ They differ in emphasis and tradition, but each argues in different ways that Christian faith should play a central role in shaping public life and the nation.

Charismatic dominionism

Often linked to ideas such as the Seven Mountain Mandate, this approach encourages Christians to influence key areas of society – including government, education, media, business, and the arts. It sees politics as part of a wider spiritual battle to reclaim the nation for God, emphasising revival, spiritual warfare, prophetic leadership, and active engagement in public life. It is important to note that not all charismatic Christians are dominionists, and not all dominionists are Christian nationalists. It is usually populist in tone, highly activist, and centred on revival, spiritual warfare, and prophetic leadership.

Reformed reconstructionism

Rooted in conservative reformed theology and associated with thinkers such as R J Rushdoony, this tradition argues that society should be governed according to biblical moral principles. It places strong emphasis on biblical law, covenant theology, and long-term cultural change. Although relatively small, it has influenced parts of the American Christian Right, particularly through Christian education, homeschooling, and advocacy for a distinctly Christian public order.

Catholic integralism

Catholic integralism argues that political authority should ultimately serve humanity's spiritual good as understood by the Catholic Church. Rather than separating religion and politics, it maintains that the state should recognise and support Christianity – specifically Catholicism – in public life. Contemporary integralists are often critical of secularism, individualism, and aspects of liberal democracy, favouring a political order centred on the common good and objective moral truth. While generally more academic and institutional than populist forms of Christian nationalism, it shares the conviction that the state should privilege a particular Christian vision of society.

Identity: Christian and national

• Blending faith and national identity can express gratitude for heritage.
• When Christianity becomes a political tool, it risks idolatry and marginalising others.
• Healthy Christian patriotism is marked by humility, service, and gratitude; Christian nationalism often seeks dominance, power, or exclusion.

Immigration and justice

• Public concern persists around immigration levels and fairness in the asylum system.
• Christian ethics call for both compassion and justice: welcoming the stranger while recognising borders and the rule of law.
• Simplistic or fear-driven narratives should be resisted.

Islam and Freedom of Religion

• Some express anxiety about the growth of Islam and community integration.
• Christians should robustly affirm freedom of religion and belief – including the freedom to critique ideas – while rejecting fear, hostility, or collective blame.

Evangelical Alliance research (November 2025, c.900 UK evangelicals⁴) found that:

The Christian nationalism conversation reflects the reality that Christianity is back in public conversation. Our polling highlights a clear distinction between Christian influence and Christian privilege.

Key opportunities include:

• Modelling healthy Christian patriotism: Give thanks for our heritage and freedoms, avoid idolising the nation and model speaking prophetically to power while resisting both dominion theology and the marginalisation of faith to the private sphere.
• Understanding the appeal: Dismissing concerns pushes people further away. The church must listen before it speaks, and address the roots – alienation, deprivation, and loss of meaning – through community, justice, and investment in young people.
• Young men and faith: Growing numbers of young men are encountering Christianity through online influencers rather than churches, often bringing strong political assumptions that require careful discipleship.
• Acknowledging our complicity: The church was too often silent on key culture issues around identity, immigration, masculinity, marriage, family and patriotism allowing other voices to fill the void.
• Engage seriously: This is not a fringe issue. It demands serious theological reflection, honest discipleship, and courageous public witness. Churches should host honest, gracious conversations about identity, immigration, and belonging.

Key challenges include:

• Enforcement over persuasion: Christian influence depends on consent; Christian nationalism tends towards structural enforcement that restricts freedom of religion and belief.
• Threats to democracy and pluralism: Privileging Christianity can undermine equal citizenship and confident pluralism.
• Racism and exclusion: Ethno-cultural definitions of nationhood risk creating hierarchies of human worth incompatible with the gospel.
• Damage to Christian witness: When Christ’s name is associated with grievance, fear, or authoritarian politics, the reconciling power of the gospel is obscured.
• Misuse of scripture: Biblical texts are sometimes employed to legitimise exclusionary policies without regard to context or the wider biblical narrative.
• One-sided critique: Some churches are quick to critique Christian progressivism but slower to challenge Christian nationalism and vice versa. Both risk binding the gospel too closely to political ideology.

¹Bretherton, L. (2025), What kind of thing is a nation? And what story should we tell about this nation? [Online]. Available at: https://cuf.org.uk/uploads/img/What-kind-of-thing-is-a-nation.pdf (Accessed 22 July 2026)

²Lynas, P (September 2025), Christian nationalism in the UK: a contest for the nation's soul [Online]. Available at: https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/christian-nationalism-in-the-uk-a-contest-for-the-nations-soul (Accessed 22 July 2026)

³Nick Spencer (March 2026), Christian nationalism: explainer [Online]. Available at:  https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2026/03/17/christian-nationalism-an-explainer (Accessed 22 July 2026)

⁴Evangelical Alliance (2025), Confident Faith, Contested Culture [Online]. Available at: https://www.eauk.org/assets/files/downloads/Confident-faith-contested-culture.pdf (Accessed 22 July 2026)