Political reporter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Farage said Yusuf was “a huge factor” in the party’s success in last month’s elections<\/a>, when Reform won a by-election, two mayoral races and gained 677 new councillors.<\/p>\n However, he told GB News he believed Yusuf had “had enough” of politics, which can be “totally unrelenting”.<\/p>\n Farage said he had “suspicions” Yusuf might quit after he seemed “very disengaged” when the pair spoke on Wednesday morning but was only given a “10-minute warning” his resignation was coming.<\/p>\n Asked about reports that some in the party found Yusuf difficult to deal with, Farage said “not everyone got on with him”. <\/p>\n He added: “Were his interpersonal skills at the top of his list of attributes? No. But I always found him, with me, very polite.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a post on X, Yusuf wrote: “11 months ago I became chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30% [in national polls], quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.<\/p>\n “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”<\/p>\n Earlier, Yusuf had criticised Sarah Pochin – who won last month’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election – for urging Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka “in the interests of public safety” during her Prime Minister’s Questions debut on Wednesday. <\/p>\n He said it was “dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do”. <\/p>\n Pochin’s call appeared to go down well with Reform’s other MPs, although a party spokesman said it was “not party policy”. <\/p>\n In response to Yusuf quitting, Pochin said he had been “a great friend and colleague”, adding that “the professionalisation he brought to Reform UK will have a lasting legacy”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yusuf, who was previously a member of the Conservative Party, became Reform UK’s chairman shortly after last year’s general election.<\/p>\n A former banker who sold his tech start-up company for more than \u00a3200m, Yusuf has described himself as a “proud British Muslim patriot”.<\/p>\n He donated \u00a3200,000 to Reform during the general election campaign and as chairman he was given the job of professionalising the party, wooing donors and increasing Reform UK’s activist base.<\/p>\n Yusuf was seen as central to Reform’s operation and had been spearheading the party’s so-called Doge teams<\/a> to cut wasteful spending in the councils it now controls. <\/p>\n The acronym refers to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in the US.<\/p>\n Tech entrepreneur Nathaniel Fried, who was brought in to lead the Doge unit, said he was stepping down with Yusuf. <\/p>\n “I have a huge amount of respect for the work that the councils are doing to save taxpayer money, and reduce wastage,” he wrote on X. <\/p>\n But he added that Yusuf “got me in and I believe it is appropriate for me to leave with him”. <\/p>\n Yusuf’s unexpected resignation came after he had spent recent days trumpeting the Doge initiative, which was only formally launched this week. <\/p>\n He has previously hailed Farage as the UK’s “next prime minister” who “will return Britain to greatness”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Prominent Reform supporter Tim Montgomerie said he was “a big fan” of Yusuf but added: “He was a young man in a hurry – he upset quite a lot of people who didn’t want the party to professionalise, to modernise.<\/p>\n “He faced a lot of prejudice, not necessarily from inside the party but on social media, I think that affected him.<\/p>\n “I think the row over the burka question that the new MP asked yesterday may have been the last straw for him.”<\/p>\n He said Reform was “looking like a party with too many internal tensions, but there is time to put that right”. <\/p>\n Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: “By sacking himself, Zia Yusuf seems to be leading the ‘UK Doge’ by example. You have to admire his commitment to the cause.<\/p>\n “It’s already clear Reform UK cannot deliver for the communities they are elected to stand up for. Instead, they have copied the Conservative playbook of fighting like rats in a sack.”<\/p>\n A Labour Party spokesperson said: “If Nigel Farage can’t manage a handful of politicians, how on earth could he run a country? <\/p>\n “He has fallen out with everyone he has ever worked with. Reform are just not serious.”<\/p>\n Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Reform is not a political party. It is a fan club.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Reform has seen its support in national polls grow since last year’s general election, when the party won 14.3% of the vote share and secured five MPs. <\/p>\n However, it has been dogged by infighting which culminated in Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe being expelled from the party. <\/p>\n It came after he was accused of harassing staff members and threatening “physical violence” against Yusuf. <\/p>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/316f\/live\/68b49f20-422b-11f0-b24e-5322b99b4bd8.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n