Zia Yusuf has resigned as the chairman of Reform UK hours after a row within the party around banning burqas.
Writing on X, Yusuf said: “11 months ago I became Chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.
“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
It comes shortly after he hit out at Reform UK’s new MP Sarah Pochin, who chose to use her first ever question to the prime minister in the Commons to question if the government will ban burqas.
Banning the burqa, which is typically worn by Muslim women to cover their whole bodies aside from their eyes, is not even Reform’s policy.
A spokesman told HuffPost UK the party wanted to see “a national debate” on the issue.
Right-wing media personality Katie Hopkins then asked on X if party chairman Zia Yusuf was behind that quote.
Yusuf quickly hit back on Thursday morning, writing: “Nothing to do with me. Had no idea about the question nor that it wasn’t policy. Busy with other stuff.”
He added: “I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do.”
In a separate post he wrote: “Just to be clear, I learnt about the question and the party’s position re it not being policy for the first time on my X feed.
“I’m busy with UK DOGE,” he noted, referring to Reform’s plan to mimic Elon Musk’s cost-cutting “department of government efficiency” which advises the White House.
Meanwhile, Reform MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, wrote on X that the burqa should be banned, adding: “No one should be allowed to hide their identity in public.”
Commenting on Yusuf’s resignation, Reform leader Nigel Farage wrote: “I am genuinely sorry that Zia Yusuf has decided to stand down as Reform UK Chairman.
“As I said just last week, he was a huge factor in our success on May 1st and is an enormously talented person. Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life.”
Reform UK has been contacted for further comment.”
