Reform UK in Chaos as Zia Yusuf Does a U-Turn Just 48 Hours After Dramatic Exit

Zia Yusuf is back with Reform UK just two days after dramatically quitting as the party’s chair, admitting that his decision to leave was a ‘mistake’ made in a moment of exhaustion. The whirlwind return follows intense talks with party leader Nigel Farage, and Yusuf is now set to take on a new — though still undefined — leadership role within the party, according to LBC.

Though his new title hasn’t been nailed down yet, Yusuf will be heading up the party’s so-called Doge unit, a quirky, Elon Musk-style outfit inspired by Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency in the US. The Doge UK team is designed to sniff out unnecessary spending in councils that are now under Reform’s control. Yusuf will also have a hand in policy shaping, fundraising, and managing media duties.

His surprise return comes just after he publicly declared that campaigning for a Reform government was no longer worth his time, leaving many scratching their heads at the swift U-turn.

Farage, while clearly relieved to have Yusuf back onside, is still facing mounting concerns over his leadership style and whether he can keep his top team together. Yusuf’s exit earlier in the week had added to the growing unease within the party ranks.

The drama kicked off after Yusuf described Reform councillor Sarah Pochin as “dumb” following her question to Sir Keir Starmer about whether women in the UK should be allowed to wear the burqa, which she raised during Prime Minister’s Questions. The backlash was swift and brutal, particularly on social media, and the incident appeared to be the final straw for Yusuf – at least temporarily.

Speaking to The Times with Farage by his side, Yusuf admitted he had acted in haste. “When I pushed that tweet out, it was a coming together of a bit of exhaustion and a feeling that all I got in return for it was abuse,” he said. “I was doing so many things, in the foreground and in the background.”

He went on to say that the overwhelming support from party members and backers after his resignation made him realise he had made a mistake. “It made me realise that in that moment I was turning my back on that – and I didn’t want to do that. I realised I did have an important role to play.”

Yusuf also tried to clear the air about the burqa row, stating that his resignation had nothing to do with his personal beliefs on the matter. As a practising Muslim, he said he found himself blindsided by Pochin’s burqa comments at PMQs, describing it as an “internal miscommunication”.

He only found out about the question after it was posted on X. “I don’t mind saying that it frustrated me. But these things happen. I’m not an MP, it’s perfectly reasonable for me not to have known about it,” he said. Yusuf added that while he might vote in favour of a burqa ban if he were in parliament, he feels uneasy about banning things in principle, particularly if they would be unconstitutional elsewhere like in the US.

His return follows a pattern of recent turmoil inside Reform UK, just months after MP Rupert Lowe was pushed out following an internal spat. Farage, meanwhile, defended Yusuf, saying he had simply “snapped” after being hit with a wave of personal and racist abuse online.

“He regrets what he said and did the other day. It was a combination of 11 months hard work and exhaustion,” Farage told the BBC. He also suggested much of the abuse Yusuf received came from bots or hard-right trolls, not genuine Reform members.

Whether Yusuf’s return will bring stability or more drama remains to be seen. But in typical Reform fashion, nothing stays quiet for long.