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James Orr

Credentials 

Background

Dr James Orr is an associate professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge4“Dr James Orr,” Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity, accessed 08.01.2025. Archived December 4, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/vHWQr and head of policy for the right-wing political party Reform UK.5Poppy Coburn. “Reform’s new ‘kingmaker’: The theologian friend of JD Vance,” The Telegraph, October 19, 2025. Archived November 4, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f

Orr is a close friend of 47th U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and has been described as the vice president’s “philosopher king” and “British Sherpa”. He became friends with Vance in 2019 after Vance’s conversion to Catholicism.6Peter Snowdon and Anne McElvoy. “Meet JD Vance’s English philosopher king,” Politico, September 19, 2024. Archived September 19, 2024. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/re4Uu

Orr has expressed anti-climate positions,7Joey Groestern “Farage and Vance ‘Sherpa’ Attacked ‘Ukraine Brain’ at Oil-Backed Festival,” DeSmog, August 7, 2025. expressed admiration for the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025, the 900-page authoritarian policy blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term,8Adam Barnett. “Farage to Share Stage with Architects of Trump’s Anti-Climate Agenda,” DeSmog, August 27, 2025. and has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “regional Slavic conflict” that he doesn’t “care very much about.”9Zoltán Kottász. ““No civilisation has invited invaders in and put them up in four-star hotels”: Professor James Orr,” European Conservative, August 13, 2025. Archived September 18, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.is/ozdmS

He holds multiple roles at right-wing and Christian think tanks that have links to radical right-wing politicians and commentators across Europe, and many of which espouse anti-climate, pro-fossil fuel positions. 

He is the UK chairman of the the Edmund Burke Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C.,10Adam Barnett. “Farage to Share Stage with Architects of Trump’s Anti-Climate Agenda,” DeSmog, August 27, 2025. the organising force behind the National Conservatism conferences.11“Edmund Burke Foundation people,” National Conservatism, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived … Archive URL: https://archive.ph/RnW1w He is also an advisory board member at the climate denial network the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, which is fronted by Jordan Peterson, run by the co-owners of GB News, and features climate deniers Bjorn Lomborg and Tony Abbott among its advisory board.12Advisory Board,” Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived December 28, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/MqOB4

Orr served as the chair of the Centre for a Better Britain (CFABB), a right-wing think tank closely tied to Reform UK, founded by its donors, until leaving in October 2025 to become Nigel Farage’s senior advisor.13Poppy Coburn. “Reform’s new ‘kingmaker’: The theologian friend of JD Vance,” The Telegraph, October 19, 2025. Archived November 4, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f

CFABB formally launched in September 2025 to “support Reform with policy development, briefing and rebuttal”.14Anna Gross. “Reform UK figures plan Maga-style think-tank to build policy and attract US donors,” The Financial Times, March 29, 2025. Archived March 29, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/aMrCx The think tank claims to be seeking funding from allies of 47th U.S. President Donald Trump, tech interests, and “religious conservatives”.15Adam Barnett and Sam Bright. “New Reform Think Tank ‘Resolute 1850’ Run by Mining Magnates,” DeSmog, April 10, 2025. By September 2025, the think tank had reportedly raised over £1 million.16Anna Gross. “Reform-linked think-tank secures funding pledges worth £1mn,” The Financial Times, April 11, 2025. Archived April 11, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ahycY Documents leaked to The Times in June 2025 detailed the think tank’s intention to raise £25 million by 2029 from UK and U.S. sources, including pro-Trump donors.17Gabriel Pogrund. “The Nigel Farage backers chasing Maga millions and a Jenrick pact,” The Times, June 21, 2025. Archived June 22, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/j6NKB

Orr is also a board director at the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, a right-wing think tank founded following the death of Conservative British philosopher Roger Scruton in 2020. The think tank has hosted events featuring prominent right-wing commentators and politicians including Peter Thiel,18“’The Diversity Myth’ by Peter Thiel — Memorial Lecture,” Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, accessed January 8, 2025. Archived October 25, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/qhKwy Ron DeSantis and Chris Wright,19“2022 Common Sense Society Conference & Gala — The Sir Roger Scruton Prize Award Ceremony,” Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived August 31, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/LIFp2 Douglas Murray,20“‘The Life and Legacy of Sir Roger Scruton’ by Douglas Murray — Memorial Lecture,” Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived October 23, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/bsH9V Rupert Lowe, Danny Kruger,21“Now & England,” Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived November 1, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/1yfMp and Robert Jenrick.22“The Future of Building Beautiful: an Interview with the Rt Hon Robert Jenrick,” Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, accessed January 8, 2026. Archived November 5, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/pYFUl Some of its events have been co-organised with other Conservative think tanks, including the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a think tank linked to Viktor Orban’s Hungarian government and financed in part through shares in the country’s national oil company.

Orr was a board member of the Dubai-based Prosperity Institute in 2025,23“Dr James Orr,” Prosperity Institute. Archived August 10, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.is/8s2GV a think tank whose parent company, the Legatum Group, co-founded the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship and GB News along with Paul Marshall.

Orr believes that the UK should emulate the politics of Orbán’s Hungary. Speaking at the MCC summer festival in 2025, he described Orbán’s autocratic government as a “counterexample to the ideology in my own country that rejects national pride and heritage”.24Joey Grostern. “Farage and Vance ‘Sherpa’ Attacked ‘Ukraine Brain’ at Oil-Backed Festival,” DeSmog, August 7, 2025.

In reference to modern Britain, he told PoliticsHome:

“This new nation that’s emerging is really no nation at all. It’s almost a laboratory for hyper-liberalism, hyper-progressivism, engaging in the endgame of this disastrous experiment that has been multi-culturalism”.25Noah Vickers. “James Orr: ‘This New Nation That’s Emerging Is Really No Nation At All,’’ PoliticsHome, September 4, 2025. Archived September 13, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.is/BlLyB

Independent of his think tank affiliations, Orr has also made statements criticising climate action and calling for further fossil fuel extraction, including labelling net zero “reckless”.26James Orr. “The reckless insanity of energy policy under both the Tories and Labour since 2004 has turned Britain into an international laughing-stock. Energy independence is the only policy goal we should be pursuing.,” X post by user @jtworr, January 4, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ZnDlJ

On abortion, a profile in The Times said “he does not think abortion should be allowed, at any stage of foetal development, even in pregnancies resulting from rape.”27Robert Crampton. “James Orr: JD Vance is just a normal guy who likes his beers,” The Times, August 15, 2025. Archived November 27, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f

Stance on Climate Change

Personal views

Across interviews, speeches and posts on his social media accounts, Orr has consistently argued for net zero to be abandoned in the UK and fossil fuel extraction maximised.

November 13, 2025

Orr posted on X saying “Reform will deliver what the Uniparty did not: cheap, reliable, abundant energy for the British people.” Reform UK’s energy policy is to scrap net zero, maximise fossil fuel extraction from the North Sea, and restart coal mining in the UK.28James Orr. “Extraordinary to watch Net Zero unravel in the place that once preached it most zealously. Brexit means we no longer need permission from a Potemkin Parliament to escape it. Reform will deliver what the Uniparty did not: cheap, reliable, abundant energy for the British people.,” X post by user @jtworr, November 13, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/axuji

August 31, 2025

Orr reposted a statement from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on X which said that “Reform would free us” from the “Tory Party inflicted the cost-of-living nightmare of Net Zero,” by extracting more fossil fuels from the North Sea. 

Farage’s post criticised Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch’s claim that her party would expand North Sea oil and gas production if they were in power, with Farage adding “Don’t believe a word they say about anything.”29James Orr. “The Tory Party inflicted the cost-of-living nightmare of Net Zero on Britain. Labour is doubling down on it. Reform will free us from it.,” X post by user @jtworr, August 31, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/HPHN3

August 13, 2025

Orr was interviewed in the European Conservative, a news outlet indirectly funded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government,30Lili Rutai. “Hungary’s government is funding European publications. But have they had much success?,” Euronews, September 15, 2023. Archived December 20, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/16ygB where he attacked European governments over their commitment to net zero, labelling it “fiscal suicide” and an example of “crazy energy policies.” He also suggested that if Reform UK were to win a general election, it “would end the economic catastrophe of net zero” which would “alone will give the country an enormous kick in terms of productivity.” 

When asked about Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine he labelled it a “regional slavic conflict,” adding that “it is a conflict happening in the world that I don’t care very much about.” 

March 3, 2025

In a post on X, Orr called the UK’s aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050 “economic suicide,” making the claim that the “impact on global emission will be zero,” continuing: “we are governed by clowns.”31James Orr. “Britain is committing economic suicide to achieve Net Zero. In the unlikely event we do achieve it, the impact on global emissions will be zero. The evidence that others will be inspired to follow our example? Also zero. We are governed by clowns.,” X post by user @jtworr, March 3, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/TwK8B

February 12-13, 2025

In a discussion about energy policy in an X thread, Orr made pro-fracking statements in response to a graph showing relative energy prices in the UK and U.S. between the mid-1990 and 2020s, arguing that the UK would have enjoyed lower prices because “tapping our shale gas reserves would have mitigated the spikes.”32James Orr. “I defer to your cousin’s expertise. The CCA 2008 was a major factor in the price increases, though not the only one. Tapping our shale gas reserves would have mitigated the spikes, but yes not as dramatically as Barnett Shale did for US prices.,” X post by user @jtworr, February 13, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/KlS9z

He added:

“In that same period we could have enjoyed a shale gas revolution of our own comparable in its impact on domestic electricity prices and carbon emissions to that in the US.”33James Orr. “In that same period we could have enjoyed a shale gas revolution of our own comparable in its impact on domestic electricity prices and carbon emissions to that in the US.,” X post by user @jtworr, February 12, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/lRV5r

Key Quotes

September 5-6, 2025

James Orr spoke at Reform UK’s annual conference alongside Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy and head of its DOGE unit, in a talk titled: “Is the country really ready for Reform?”.34Sam Bright. “Climate Deniers to Converge on Reform Conference,” DeSmog, September 3, 2025. 

During the talk, Orr reportedly advised Reform to adopt Trump-style approaches to immigration, including the formation of a UK version of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the creation of a UK equivalent of Project 2025, the radical right-wing blueprint for Trump’s second term created by the Heritage Foundation.35Olly Haynes. “How Reform UK Is Importing Conspiracy-Fuelled MAGA Politics to the UK,” Byline Times, September 9, 2025. Archived September 15, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/hNck8

​​August 31 – September 2, 2025

Orr accused the UK of adopting a “naive and dangerous” approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at MCC Feszt, a festival in Hungary organised by the oil-funded think tank Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC).36Joey Grostern. “Farage and Vance ‘Sherpa’ Attacked ‘Ukraine Brain’ at Oil-Backed Festival,” DeSmog, August 7, 2025.

Orr accused politicians of failing to “reflect upon this crisis, this problem, this conflict, on its own terms”.

He claimed they have a “peculiar psychological condition” – which he labelled “Ukraine brain” – that means they are only able to understand the Russia-Ukraine war “through the lens” of the Second World War.

He instead praised Hungary’s approach, which has seen the country systematically block and delay EU military aid packages to Ukraine and sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

January 4, 2025

James Orr reposted a claim from prominent Danish climate denier Bjorn Lomborg which suggested that UK energy prices are due to climate policies rather than fluctuations in the price of gas.37James Orr. “The reckless insanity of energy policy under both the Tories and Labour since 2004 has turned Britain into an international laughing-stock. Energy independence is the only policy goal we should be pursuing,” Post on X by @jwtorr, January 4, 2025. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.

Orr added: 

“The reckless insanity of energy policy under both the Tories and Labour since 2004 has turned Britain into an international laughing-stock. Energy independence is the only policy goal we should be pursuing”. 

Key Actions

February 17, 2026

Orr was appointed as Reform UK’s Head of Policy.38Noah Keate. “Nigel Farage gives JD Vance ally top policy role,” Politico, February 18, 2025. Archived February 18, 2026. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

October 19, 2025

Orr was appointed as senior advisor to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, leaving his position at the Centre for a Better Britain.39Poppy Coburn. “Reform’s new ‘kingmaker’: The theologian friend of JD Vance,” The Telegraph, October 19, 2025. Archived November 4, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f

A report in The Telegraph wrote that his role “will be responsible for building networks of elite defectors from academia, business and law, to create what he says will be a ‘party of second chances’.”40Poppy Coburn. “Reform’s new ‘kingmaker’: The theologian friend of JD Vance,” The Telegraph, October 19, 2025. Archived November 4, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f

August 2025

Orr hosted 47th U.S. Vice President JD Vance at his home in Cambridgeshire,41Poppy Coburn. “Reform’s new ‘kingmaker’: The theologian friend of JD Vance,” The Telegraph, October 19, 2025. Archived November 4, 2025. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Yng1f alongside then-Conservative MP Danny Kruger, who defected to Reform UK in September 2025,42Jennifer McKiernan. “Tory MP and shadow minister Danny Kruger defects to Reform,” BBC News, September 15, 2025. Archived September 15, 2025. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. and reality TV star Thomas Skinner.43Matt Simpson. “Inside JD Vance Cotswolds barbecue with The Apprentice star,” Oxford Mail, August 13, 2025. Archived August 13, 2025. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.

Affiliations 

Social media

X – @jtworr

Instagram – @jtworr

YouTube – @James-TW-Orr

Publications

Other resources

“James Orr,” Wikipedia entry. 

Image credit: Wikimedia commons.

Resources

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