I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office,
- he said — Politico Europe,
- Yusuf said — Reuters,
- Zia Yusuf announced on X on Thursday, hours after hitting out at Reform UK lawmaker Sarah Pochin for asking Prime Minister Keir Starmer whether his government would consider banning the burqa — Aljazeera,
- But on Thursday afternoon he said on X — Daily Express,
- Crediting himself with having “quadrupled Reform’s membership and delivered historic electoral results”, he added — Guardian,
- He said on Thursday — The Telegraph,
Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life.”
- Zia Yusuf, chairman
I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do,
Given the prime minister’s desire to strengthen strategic alignment with our European neighbours, will he, in the interest of public safety, follow the lead of France, Belgium, Denmark and others and ban the burqa?”
- Lee Anderson (British politician), reform UK MP
Ban the burqa? Yes we should.”... No one should be allowed to hide their identity in public.”
I am genuinely sorry that Zia Yusuf has decided to stand down as Reform UK chairman,
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.”
Labour piled in
The Sun- Ms Pochin, ms
Can I welcome her to her place, but I'm not going to follow her down that line
In his reply to Ms Pochin in the Commons on Wednesday, Sir Keir told the recently-elected MP
Daily Mail He didn’t do what a chairman is meant to do, which is to bring people in and bring them along with you,... He isolated a lot of the staff.”
said one Reform source, adding
The Telegraph- Raheem Kassam, wing circles, ex-Breitbart UK editor
Farage isn’t a dictator. He’s one of the most reasonable people in politics. He’s moved aside when it made sense, and he’s returned when asked.”
Raheem Kassam, who served as Mr Farage’s spin doctor and has close links to Donald Trump, said
Daily Express