PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Zia Yusuf resigned as chairman of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, after callings its newest Member of Parliament (MP) “dumb” for advocating a burka ban.
👥 Who’s Involved: Zia Yusuf, Reform Party, Nigel Farage, and Sarah Pochin.
📍 Where & When: Announced via X (formerly Twitter) on June 5, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time,” Yusuf said.
⚠️ Impact: Yusuf’s exit paves the way for significant changes to Farage’s top team.
IN FULL:
Zia Yusuf has announced his resignation as chairman of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, hours after publicly criticizing the party’s newest Member of Parliament (MP) for pushing for a burka ban.
“[Eleven] months ago I became Chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 percent, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results,” Yusuf said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office,” he added.
Yusuf, a Muslim businessman, had criticized Sarah Pochin MP, after she had grilled Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on introducing a ban on the Islamic burka in the House of Commons.
Yusuf said on Wednesday that banning the burka was not party policy and Pochin was stupid for asking Starmer the question, writing that it was “dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do.”
The National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam, a former advisor to Nigel Farage, suggested in March that the Reform leader should consider replacing Yusuf, who was previously at the center of a spat with now-former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
“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,” Kassam said of Farage’s leadership style in comments to the British press.
“He’s also a meritocrat. If someone comes along who can run the party better than its current chairman, or if a deputy could help augment the work, he’d be all over it,” he continued, adding: “The problem is everyone has his number and any time anyone has a problem in the party they immediately call Nigel, and drag him into their fights. If he doesn’t side with them, or tries to stay neutral, they lash out. I’ve seen it a thousand times.”
“If anything, he needs a militant chief of staff to police his time and keep him above the fray. This is the next Prime Minister we’re talking about now… They need to get his team right and support him wholeheartedly. No one has put more into this movement than him,” Kassam concluded.
Farage has offered a magnanimous response to Yusuf’s departure, writing that he is “genuinely sorry that Zia Yusuf has decided to stand down as Reform UK Chairman” as he was “a huge factor” in the party’s recent triumph in England’s local elections.
“Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life,” he added.
This story is developing…