Prominent right-wing figures from around the world will gather in London from Monday for a major conference aimed at networking and forging connections with senior U.S. Republicans linked to the Trump administration.

Kemi Badenoch, the UK Conservative opposition leader, and Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party, will compete to position themselves as the leading voice of British conservatism.

The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference will bring together conservatives from Britain, Europe, and Australia, offering them a chance to engage with U.S. counterparts, including those connected to Trump's new administration. Although Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was initially set to attend in person, he will now deliver a keynote speech remotely on Monday.

Other Republican speakers include U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy—who has collaborated with Elon Musk on efforts to overhaul the U.S. government—and Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind the contentious "Project 2025" plan for Trump's potential second term.

The conference, designed as a gathering of influential intellectuals shaping global right-wing ideology, carries a strong anti-environmental and socially conservative tone. It aims to expand its movement and continue what it describes as the crucial task of rebuilding the foundations of civilization.

Founded in 2023 by Canadian psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson alongside Tory peer Philippa Stroud, ARC is financially backed by figures such as Paul Marshall, co-owner of GB News, and the libertarian think tank Legatum Institute.

Following its debut at the O2 Arena last year, the event has relocated to the larger ExCel Centre, with attendance expected to rise from 1,500 to 4,000 participants from 96 countries.

Kemi Badenoch returns to the high-profile three-day event as Conservative leader, having previously used her appearance to launch a “culture war” attack on LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall. While she will deliver a welcome address on Monday ahead of Mike Johnson’s keynote speech, she cannot avoid the growing challenge posed by the hard-right, anti-immigration Reform UK party.

Farage, the party’s leader, will be interviewed on stage on Tuesday by Peterson while Reform’s chair, Zia Yusuf, is expected to later take part in a panel for a session called “The choices we face: unilateral economic disarmament or a pro-human way?”

Figures on the advisory board of ARC include the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, the Tory MP Danny Kruger, the self-styled “sceptical environmentalist” Bjørn Lomborg and the Tory peer and financier Helena Morrissey.

It also includes Maurice Glasman, the Labour peer associated with the socially conservative “Blue Labour” strand of thinking, who recently appeared on a podcast hosted by Steve Bannon, the US Republican strategist and on-and-off Trump ally.

Peterson will also interview Peter Thiel, the US Republican donor and Silicon Valley billionaire known for controversial views such as asserting that democracy is not compatible with freedom and that he has “little hope that voting will make things better”.

A list of attenders seen by Guardian Australia showed more than 50 Australians, including figures from rightwing thinktanks and churches, were intending to go to the gathering. Among those travelling are Bridget McKenzie, a senator for the National party, along with key figures from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Those involved in ARC are keen to promote the gathering as more about the formulation of big ideas than political policy or campaigning and point to conference’s inclusion of scientists and figures from the arts.

While religious faith does not explicitly feature in promotional material for the event, there is a strong religious influence on its direction from Peterson, who draws on the Bible in his work, and Stroud, a committed Christian credited with shaping many of the policies of the Conservative party during the 2000s.