Reform UK’s Former Chairman Takes New Role Two Days After Resignation

Zia Yusuf, who quit as chairman of Britain's hard-right Reform UK party saying it was not a "good use of his time", announced on Saturday he was taking up a new role in the party. Yusuf's announcement on X Thursday that he was leaving came after he criticised the party's newest MP for asking Prime Minister Keir Starmer whether he would ban the wearing of burqas in the UK. It hinted at unrest in arch-Eurosceptic Nigel Farage's party, which, despite riding high in the polls, has already lost one MP since it secured a breakthrough result at last July's general election. But Yusuf said Thursday's tweet, in which he wrote that "I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time", was borne of "exhaustion." "Over the last 24 hours I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider," he wrote on X on Saturday. "I came into politics out of belief that Nigel Farage was the man to deliver that. Having read the messages, I believe in these things more than ever," he said. "I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down. So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled," he added.

Yusuf will no longer be chairman of the party, revealing after peace talks with Farage that he would take on a new role running the "UK DOGE team to fight for taxpayers", a reference to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency under US President Donald Trump. Yusuf became chairman in July last year, shortly after Reform won 14 percent of the vote and five seats in parliament -- an unprecedented haul for a hard-right group in a British general election. Yusuf was tasked with professionalising the group's grassroots operations and training up candidates ahead of what Farage has said will be a major challenge to Starmer's Labour party at the next general election, likely in 2029. Anti-immigrant Reform has consistently led national opinion polls for several weeks now and won hundreds of councillors at local polls on May 1. Farage said he was "genuinely sorry" when Yusuf announced he was to quit.