Exit and then re-enter stage right: Reform’s departed chief is back

When Reform UK party staffers rocked up at their Westminster local, the Marquis of Granby, last Thursday, they had reason to celebrate. Voting in the byelection of Hamilton, Stone­house and Larkhall pointed to Reform making headway in Scotland.

But the more immediate issue was the resignation of Zia Yusuf, the party chair, who quit seemingly out of nowhere while the polls were still open. The departure of yet another senior party figure, who posted a statement saying: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time,” seemed a reputational blow. But the mood in the pub was upbeat. “Drinks at the MOG were not miserable,” said one source the next day. Another added: “A lot of people are celebrating the fact that Zia has gone.”

Those celebrations were shortlived. Within 48 hours, Yusuf and Reform had made up and the former chairman is back – although his role has yet to be decided. One source close to Yusuf told The Observer Farage had been bereft, saying: “Nigel has been speaking to him half a dozen times a day. It was like he’d lost a limb.”

Many of the moments leading up to Yusuf’s resignation were, like the populist rightwing spat across the Atlantic, played out on X. Ostensibly, the row hinged on the maiden question asked by Reform’s newest MP, Sarah Pochin. At Wednesday’s PMQs, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby caused audible consternation by asking Keir Starmer if he would “follow the lead of France, Denmark, Belgium and others and ban the burqa”.

The prime minister declined to “follow her down that line”. Yusuf tweeted: “I’m busy with UK DOGE.”

While Reform MPs and their newly elected mayor, the former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns, endorsed the question, Yusuf held firm. Last Thursday morning he went further, calling the question “dumb”. Sources believe this was the point of no return.

“You don’t call an elected MP dumb,” says one. “That was the final straw, not the main offence.”

At 5.25pm, 10 minutes after informing Nigel Farage of his plans, Yusuf posted his resignation on X.

Reform insisted Yusuf had simply “done all the stuff he had come in to do” – set up new structures to professionalise the outfit and set out his own Doge-style public sector cuts – but this ignores the fact that, on the morning of the fateful PMQs, he was knee-deep in Kent county council’s finances. Certainly there was no exit plan – or replacement – lined up. So what happened?

At a Reform press conference just the week before, Yusuf heaped praise on the party’s leader. Sources say this was sincere – and that the respect is two-way. But that does not filter out much beyond Farage. “Nigel saw something in him that others didn’t,” one source says. “Nigel got on with him well, but nobody else did.”

Another says: “When Zia came in, a lot of people were elbowed to one side and felt slightly jilted. He was a bit of a control freak. You can be a control freak if you’re a Dominic Cummings super-strategist and know all the journalists, but if you’re an ex-City person who is new to politics, you will put a lot of noses out of joint.”

Yusuf had been tasked by Farage with getting Reform “election-ready for 2029”, and even critics acknowledge his work ethic, zeal and businesslike approach. Others are less charitable, saying: “What Zia did – filling stadiums with supporters – is not because of expert organisation. It’s because of the anger in the country and people flocking to Reform.”

Sources described the former Goldman Sachs executive director as a micromanager who was “very green” to the political world: “He has a huge amount of talent and ability but also is very new to a difficult game … Richard took a long time to become Richard Tice. Zia had to do it in days.”

There have been several public spats among the Reform top brass as the party has become more powerful. The former deputy co-leader, Ben Habib, was ousted, and MP Rupert Lowe was suspended in March over allegations that he made physical threats to Yusuf. The police did not bring a prosecution, but the bad blood directed towards Farage remained.

In the wake of Yusuf’s resignation, Lowe tweeted: “They tried to put me in prison on false allegations – they tried to tear me away from my wife, my family, my grandson, my life – all because I questioned Farage.”

Farage has a reputation for “tall poppy syndrome”, cutting down potential threats before they can challenge his dominance. His other well-documented rows include with Robert Kilroy-Silk and Douglas Carswell in his Ukip days, as well as with four Brexit MEPs.

On Friday, Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, backed Pochin, saying Reform was right to start a debate about banning the burqa in the UK.

Another leadership figure still in place is Nick Candy, the billionaire property developer and party treasurer. There have been rumours that Arron Banks, who co-founded Leave EU with Tice, could be a successor; after Yusuf’s resignation, the Brexiter tweeted: “The corks will be popping in party HQ this evening.”

A new chair is due to be announced at a press conference on Tuesday – Yusuf is expected to attend, alongside Farage.

As for Yusuf? A party spokesman told The Observer that his decision to quit was as a result of exhaustion, in no small part because of the “barrage of racist abuse he was getting”.

But this does not explain the earlier briefing that Yusuf considered his job done. His new role will continue to involve leading Reform’s DOGE unit, as well as policy more generally, fundraising and media appearances.

“This puts to an end the argument that Nigel can’t build a team around him,” the spokesman added. Perhaps for now, but the split it has exposed won’t be forgotten.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition on 8 June. It has been added to since publication.