Zia Yusuf has quit as Reform UK’s chairman following a burka ban row. His resignation comes after he branded a question by Reform’s newest MP Sarah Pochin during PMQs calling for the face coverings to be outlawed in Britain as “dumb”.
In a post on X today, he said: “Eleven months ago I became chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results. I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
Zia Yusuf resigns as Reform UK’s chairman (Image: Getty)
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he was “genuinely sorry” that Mr Yusuf had decided to stand down.
The Clacton MP added: “As I said just last week, he was a huge factor in our success on May 1st and is an enormously talented person.
“Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life.”
Ms Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, said Mr Yusuf had been “a great friend and colleague”.
She said: “He entered politics for all the right reasons, and his dedication, commitment, and the professionalisation he brought to Reform UK will have a lasting legacy.”
Mr Yusuf earlier criticised Ms Pochin’s PMQs question, which he said was not official party policy.
When asked about it on X, he said: “Nothing to do with me. Had no idea about the question nor that it wasn’t policy. Busy with other stuff.
“I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do.”
Ms Pochin had asked Sir Keir whether he would be joining European countries in banning the face and body covering worn by some Muslim women.
She said: “Given the Prime Minister’s desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he in the interests of public safety follow the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others and ban the burka?”
Her question triggered an outraged reaction from some MPs in the Commons, while the Prime Minister was visibly taken aback.
Sir Keir said: “Can I welcome her to her place, but I’m not going to follow her down that line.
“But now she is here and safely in her place, perhaps she could tell her new party leader that his latest plan to bet £80 billion of unfunded tax cuts, with no idea how he’s going to pay for it, is Liz Truss all over again.
“Although considering I think (Ms Pochin) was a Conservative member when Liz Truss was leader, she probably won’t.”
Mr Yusuf’s resignation comes on the day Reform hopes to cause an upset in Scotland, where it is contesting a Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
Opposition parties seized on his exit, with a Tory source saying: “Nigel Farage tells us he wants to run the country, he can’t even run a party small enough to fit in a Nissan Micra. Will the last person in Reform UK who isn’t Farage please turn out the lights?”
A Labour Party spokesperson added: “If Nigel Farage can’t manage a handful of politicians, how on earth could he run a country? He has fallen out with everyone he has ever worked with. Reform are just not serious.”
