Zia Yusuf has announced he will return to Reform UK with a new role just 48 hours after he resigned as party chairman.
In a shock U-turn, the 38-year-old announced he would be returning to Nigel Farage’s party, saying he had received a large number of messages from people begging him to reconsider.
Just days ago, Yusuf wrote on X that he “no longer believes working to get a Reform Government elected is a good use of my time”.
He has now hinted that instead of returning to his role as chairman, he will be taking up a new role leading the fight to tackle taxpayer waste spending.
Just after 5pm on Saturday, Zia wrote on X: “Over the last 24 hours, I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider.
“After 11 months of working as a volunteer to build a political party from scratch, with barely a single day off, my tweet was a decision born of exhaustion.
“I only came into politics out of a sense of duty, to serve the country I love. The country that had been so kind to my parents and presented me with immense opportunity.
“Out of a sense of duty to do whatever I could to reverse decades of decline and make this a country one in which we could be excited for our children to grow up.
Zia Yusuf to RETURN to Reform with new role just 48 hours after resigning as Party chairman
PA
Zia Yusuf announced his resignation on Thursday
Reacting to Yusuf’s U-turn, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X: “I am delighted that Zia Yusuf will head up Reform UK’s Doge department.
“He will also assist the party with policy, fundraising and media appearances.
“Zia will continue to be an important part of the team we are building to fight and win the next general election.”
Adding his support, Reform MP James McMurdock wrote: “Zia is an asset.
“He is a brilliantly talented person and has worked as hard over the last year as anyone I have ever met.
“He deserves a bit of time to catch his breath and then deserves the right to pick what projects within Reform he wants to focus on.
“I do not expect relentless perfection from anyone. Least of all people who voluntarily stick their head over the parapet. Welcome back.”
Nigel Farage appeared on GB News shortly after Yusuf announced his resignation on Thursday
GB News
Yusuf’s departure as chairman came just a few hours after an internal party rift broke out over Sarah Pochin MP’s call to ban the burka during PMQs.
Pochin, with whom Yusuf celebrated in Runcorn in the early hours of May 2, was seemingly branded “dumb” by Yusuf.
“I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do,” he spat after her maiden Commons question.
Yusuf told GB News’ Political Editor Christopher Hope following his decision to return, that if he were an MP, he would vote to ban the burka, along with some other face coverings.
He told GBN: “I would probably vote to ban it.”
He also told Christopher Hope that he fully backs new MP Sarah Pochin, saying she was an “incredible candidate” at the Runcorn by-election.
As chairman, Yusuf had led a “professionalising” drive in which he aimed to improve Reform’s vetting processes ahead of the local elections.
He had also helped lead Reform’s “Doge” audit team, which aims to target wasteful spending at the now-Reform-controlled councils across England.
But a damning report in the Express on Thursday revealed that Yusuf had been sidelined within the party and was no longer responsible for a number of his previous job commitments.
He had been “shunted” out to the Doge unit, sources told the newspaper.
