Former banker Zia Yusuf has rejoined the Reform Party just 48 hours after dramatically resigning as chairman.
His unexpected departure on Thursday risked throwing the Nigel Farage-led party into a new wave of confusion. It happened just after he criticized one of Reform’s own Members of Parliament for asking what he deemed a ‘silly’ question in the House of Commons concerning banning the burka.
The wealthy entrepreneur publicly wondered why Sarah Pochin, who represents Runcorn and Helsby for Reform and was elected not long ago, had raised the issue to the Prime Minister the day before.
Furthermore, there were rumors circulating that Mr. Yusuf had recently been marginalized within Reform. Some sources even suggested that some of his duties had been reassigned to others.
At the time of his resignation, he said he no longer believed that working for Reform to win power at the next general election was ‘a good use of my time’.
Mr Farage in response said he was ‘genuinely sorry’ at Mr Yusuf’s exit, adding the financier was a ‘huge factor’ in Reform’s success at May’s local elections.
‘Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough,’ the Reform leader added. ‘He is a loss to us and public life.’
But tonight the 38-year-old businessman, who is a practising Muslim, apparently performed a U-turn and will rejoin Reform in a new role.
Former banker Zia Yusuf has rejoined the Reform Party just 48 hours after dramatically resigning as chairman
Farewell and hello again: Mr Yusuf quit from his role as chairman on Thursday, but is now set to take on a new role as head of Reform UK’s DOGE team
Mr Yusuf’s shock departure threatened to plunge the Nigel Farage-led party into fresh chaos
He is now set to take over from Nathaniel Fried, who also quit on Thursday, after being drafted in by Reform to lead the party’s ‘DOGE’ cost-cutting unit in local councils.
Announcing his decision to return, Mr Yusuf said he had been persuaded by the ‘huge number’ of ‘heartfelt messages’ he had received since his resignation, adding that he was doing so because ‘the mission is too important and I cannot let people down.’
He added that he would come back with his ‘commitment redoubled’.
In his full statement, Mr Yusuf said: ‘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.
‘After 11 months of working as a volunteer to build a political party from scratch, with barely a single day off, my tweet was a decision born of exhaustion.
‘I only came into politics out of a sense of duty, to serve the country I love. The country that had been so kind to my parents and presented me with immense opportunity.
‘Out of a sense of duty to do whatever I could to reverse decades of decline and make this a country one in which we could be excited for our children to grow up.
‘I came into politics out of belief that Nigel Farage was the man to deliver that.
The political chaos was triggered after Mr Yusuf publicly questioned why Sarah Pochin, Reform’s recently-elected MP for Runcorn and Helsby, had challenged the Prime Minister about banning the burka on Wednesday
Mr Yusuf (pictured left) said in a post on X that he believed ‘more than ever’ that Nigel Farage (centre) was ‘still the man’ to deliver on Reform UK’s promises
Mr Yusuf said in a statement on X that he would come back with his ‘commitment redoubled’
‘Utter shambles’: Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe, who was kicked out of the party in March, expressed dismay at Mr Yusuf’s return
Rupert Lowe, who left the party after his criticism of Nigel Farage, was not so welcoming of the news that Mr Yusuf is set to return to Reform UK
‘Having read the messages, I believe in these things more than ever. 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. Reform has come a long way since I was appointed Chairman, and has moved from ‘startup’ to ‘scaleup’.
‘Given this, and that we have now won power at a local level, I will focus on a new role.
‘I will be running the UK DOGE team to fight for taxpayers, as well as working on party policy and representing it in the media.
‘I will continue to give all my time to the most important project of my life, getting a Reform government elected with Nigel as Prime Minister.’
Not all however were welcoming of the news.
Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe, who was kicked out of the party in March after he criticised Mr Farage’s leadership, expressed dismay at Mr Yusuf’s return and called the party an ‘utter shambles’.
In a post on X he wrote: ‘Zia Yusuf is back in Reform.
‘I have never been more convinced that we need a credible alternative to the utter shambles that is Reform UK.’
He then tantalisingly told his 371,000 followers: ‘I am working on that, and will have more news to share soon.’
This is breaking news, more follows.
