Calvin Robinson

Calvin John Robinson (born 29 October 1985) is a British political commentator, writer, broadcaster and priest. Previously, he worked as a computer science teacher at a secondary school and as a video games journalist.

As a political commentator, he is typically characterised as being a part of the Christian right, as well as conservative and right-wing. He is sometimes described as far-right, a label that he has rejected. Up to 2021 he was a regular contributor to The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and Spiked. Robinson also featured as a commentator on Talkradio and presented a regular show on GB News until he was dismissed from the latter in 2023. In February 2024, he moved his "Common Sense Crusade", which was formerly on GB News, to Lotus Eaters, and is a recurring host on their podcast.

Robinson trained at St Stephen's House, Oxford, from 2020 with the hope of being ordained in the Church of England, but he was unsuccessful in his application for a curacy.

In 2024 he moved to the United States to become a priest in the Anglican Catholic Church, a Continuing Anglican denomination. This was revoked nine days later after criticism from ACNA archbishop Steve Wood. In 2025, Robinson became licensed to preach in the English Catholic Church of North America, a Continuing Anglican denomination; he became permanently incardinated into it on 4 February 2026.

Early life and education Robinson is of mixed-race heritage. He describes his background as "half Afro-Caribbean and half English". His paternal grandparents emigrated from Jamaica as members of the Windrush generation. He was born and grew up in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, attending High Oakham Primary School, The Brunts Academy, and later West Nottinghamshire College. He then studied at the University of Westminster where he graduated with a degree in computer games design and programming.

Career Educational career Robinson was employed in the technology industry before training as a teacher. He taught computer science at St Mary's and St John's Church of England School in Hendon where he became head of the IT department. In 2017, Robinson was featured in a recruitment advert encouraging people to become teachers.

Between 2019 and 2021, he was a school governor and trustee at the Michaela School in Wembley. In 2020, he was appointed to the education sub-committee of the board of the Royal Academy of Dance; Christian Concern reported on 1 October 2023 that Robinson had been "cancelled" from this role for opposing a drag queen storytelling session and had received an out-of-court settlement. He also became a senior fellow responsible for education policy at the Policy Exchange, a think tank with conservative precepts, but no longer held the position by 2023.

Political career In 2016, Robinson was the Conservative Party candidate in a by-election for the Kilburn ward of Brent Council; he was defeated by the Labour Party candidate.

Robinson was named as the Brexit Party candidate for Broxtowe in the 2019 general election, but the Brexit Party chose to not stand in seats won by the Conservatives in the previous election.

Robinson has also held various positions in right-wing political organisations and campaigns including Defund the BBC, Unite2Leave (a pro-Brexit tactical voting campaign), and Conservative Way Forward. Robinson said his commentary has made him the target of racial abuse. In 2023–24, he was associated with right-wing group Turning Point UK.

On 2 August 2024, he became the lead spokesman for the UK Independence Party (UKIP). On 2 December 2024, he was appointed as a director for UKIP.

By August 2026, Robinson had left UKIP, and was supporting Restore Britain.

Media career Robinson worked for Talkradio and as a television presenter on GB News from late 2022, fronting a show called Calvin's Common Sense Crusade. In November 2022, he "appeared on the channel to amplify the false conspiracy theory that President Zelenskyy of Ukraine was using war as a front for a private money-laundering operation involving the bankrupt FTX crypto platform." Robinson's dismissal from GB News was announced on 4 October.

Ordained ministry Church of England Robinson undertook a two-year course of theological studies at St Stephen's House, Oxford, from 2020 to 2022, with the hope of being ordained a deacon in the Church of England. However, his application for a curacy in the Diocese of London was unsuccessful. He subsequently submitted a subject access request to the church to understand the decision. This revealed email conversations between Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, and Rob Wickham, the bishop of Edmonton, raising concerns about Robinson's "libertarian anti-woke, anti-identity politics, Covid-sceptical" political views and his use of social media, particularly Twitter, to disseminate them. The Diocese of London later issued a statement highlighting the "limited number of curacies available", emphasised that vacancies were carefully "considered on a case-by-case basis" and that "in this instance, it is felt that there is no suitable" curacy available that the diocese could offer. The decision to deny ordination to Robinson attracted criticism from conservative elements of the media, and within the church, notably Angela Tilby, a canon emerita of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Robinson described it as a "very narrow-minded" decision that was a result of his "anti-woke" views and criticism of "bleeding-heart liberal vicars".

Nordic Catholic Church In October 2023 the Evening Standard reported that Robinson would soon leave the Free Church of England to seek priestly ordination in the Nordic Catholic Church (NCC), an Old Catholic denomination of Lutheran patrimony founded in 1999. Robinson was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Roald Nikolai Flemestad of the Nordic Catholic Church at St Jude's Church, Balham, and celebrated his first Mass on 4 November 2023. He was therefore incardinated in the NCC and under the jurisdiction of Flemestad, who in turn operated under the authority of the prime bishop, Anthony Mikovsky. of the Polish National Catholic Church; both groups are part of the Union of Scranton. However, he continued to work as minister-in-charge of the Free Church of England parish of Christ Church Harlesden until 26 May 2024.

Anglican Catholic Church Robinson left the United Kingdom and moved to the United States in September 2024, where he was formally incardinated in the Anglican Catholic Church, a continuing Anglican denomination which espouses a high church Anglo-Catholic theology. He was the priest-in-charge of St Paul's Anglican Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Nazi salute controversy On 25 January 2025, Robinson gave a speech at the National Pro-Life Summit in Washington, D.C. At the conclusion of his speech, he made a gesture that was described as a "pro-Nazi salute" in a statement released the same day by the Anglican Catholic Church. The church announced that Robinson's licence had been revoked and that he was no longer a priest of the ACC. The statement released by the church said that he had previously been "warned that online trolling and other such actions" were "incompatible with a priestly vocation and was told to desist". On 20 February 2025, Robinson announced that his visa to reside in the United States had been revoked following his removal from the ACC's ministry. His visa was subsequently restored following an appeal. In March 2025, responding to the issue of ordination, the NCC released a letter of reprimand alleging that Robinson had made comments to "humiliate [their] bishop" and that he had broken promises made to the NCC.

Reformed Episcopal Church On 4 May 2025, St Paul's parish voted to remove itself from the Anglican Catholic Church, and the parish website announced that it was "seeking another church body with which to affiliate". On 5 May, Ray Sutton, the bishop of the Diocese of Mid-America of the Reformed Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America, temporarily licensed Robinson to serve as a priest at St Paul's. On 12 May, Steve Wood, the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, explained in a press release that Sutton had "agreed to provide personal oversight" to St Paul's Church while they searched for a new affiliation. Wood criticised Sutton's choice to temporarily license Robinson, stating that "I have concerns about Rev. Robinson’s ability to uphold the full commitments of our Anglican tradition, and his ability to model the Christ-like virtues of peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, and love", and that "I do not personally believe The Rev. Robinson is a good representative of the Anglican Church in North America." Robinson stated that "I know Bishop Ray Sutton to be a godly shepherd, and I am thankful that he has provided St. Paul's with Provisional Oversight and Pastoral Care, and me with Episcopal Sanctuary" and declined to comment on Archbishop Wood's remarks.

On 14 May 2025, two days after his licensure was criticised by Wood and nine days after its issuance, Sutton revoked the licence of Robinson after "much prayer and counsel from fellow bishops". but reactivated it the following day.

English Catholic Church of North America In 2025, Robinson became licensed as a priest in the English Catholic Church of North America, a Continuing Anglican denomination formed in 2024; he became permanently incardinated in the church on 4 February 2026. Jayden Austin Matthew Hagood, bishop ordinary of the Archdiocese of the Midwest in the English Catholic Church, headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, announced on 4 February 2026 that Robinson had been received as a priest in the jurisdiction.

Views Political views Robinson opposes the teaching of critical race theory in British education and argues that the teaching of black history and lessons concerning black people should be taught within the context of British history and not taught separately. He has also defended colonialism and the British Empire, and has opposed reparations for slavery.

In July 2021, Robinson appeared in an interview on Channel 4 News with the singer and left-wing political activist Billy Bragg on the decision of England's football team players to "take the knee" in a protest against racism. He said the action was "disgusting" and argued that, in taking the knee, the team was promoting "Black Lives Matter", which he described as "a neo-Marxist, anti-British, anti-family organisation".

Robinson is hostile to Islam and states frequently that Britain is a Christian country. He stated in August 2024 that "we need to remove Islam from Britain".

Robinson's political views have been characterised as conservative, He has been labelled "far right" by Hope not Hate and by Searchlight magazine, while Symon Hill writing in the Church Times described him as having excused far right violence, and the clergyman and writer Michael Coren has described him as "a hero and darling of the hard right". Reviewing Robinson's contribution to GB News, Alan Rusbridger described him as a conspiracy theorist who "lacked credibility". Robinson himself has rejected characterisations of his political views, describing the far-right label as "crazy", and described being labelled a conspiracy theorist as a "badge of honour".

Theological views In a 2022 interview with Premier Christianity, Robinson described himself as an Evangelical Catholic. The Catholic Herald described Robinson as an Evangelical Anglican, but also noted that he shares some high church positions, such as the use of the title "Father", holding a "high" understanding of the Eucharist and of the institution of the church by Christ. According to the Catholic Herald, Robinson considers as a mentor Michael Nazir-Ali, who served as a Church of England bishop and was later received into the Catholic Church.

After being ordained to the priesthood, Robinson described himself as an "Old Catholic with Anglican patrimony", stating that he considers the Pope to be a primus inter pares, rejecting papal supremacy over the universal church, the First and Second Vatican Council and the dogmatic pronouncements of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary, though he personally accepts the second as a pious devotion. He condemned the Protestant Reformation as a mistake that divided the church and stated that he is in favour of Christian unity and ecumenism among orthodox Christians. He opposes abortion and holds pro-life positions.

Robinson received the Boniface Award from the Association of Classical Christian Schools in 2025. The award is given to recognize "a public figure who has stood faithfully for Christian truth, beauty, and goodness with grace."