Zia Yusuf RESIGNS as Reform UK chairman after just 11 months - 'It's not a good use of my time!'

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Yusuf, 38, 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 per cent, 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 follows a turbulent 24 hours for the party after an internal rift broke out over Sarah Pochin MP's call to ban the burka.

Yusuf, the co-founder of concierge service Velocity Black, had been appointed shortly after Reform took back five seats at last summer's General Election.

He took over from Richard Tice, who himself stepped into the role when Nigel Farage returned as leader on June 3, 2024.

"I wish to add my huge thanks to Zia for all his hard work and major help in securing such progress and success over the last 11 months. We would not be where we are today without him," Tice said today.

Yusuf's exit is the third controversy-ridden departure from the party in under a year.

Shortly after the 2024 election, Ben Habib was removed as Reform's co-deputy leader.

Today, Habib - a long-time critic of Yusuf - said: "Thank goodness he resigned."

"For the first time ever I agree with you," Habib added. "Indeed, it was never a good use of your or anyone else's time."

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And earlier this year, Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe was suspended from the party following a string of "bullying" allegations, which he strenuously denies.

Reform leader Nigel Farage said shortly after Yusuf's departure: "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 1, 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."

The chairman's departure also comes just a few hours after an internal party rift broke out over Sarah Pochin MP's call to ban the burka.

Pochin, with whom Yusuf celebrated in Runcorn in the early hours of May 2, had been branded "dumb" by her now-former chairman after urging the Prime Minister to ban the traditional Islamic garb at PMQs.

"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.

In his post 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 earlier 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.

The Conservatives, following Yusuf's exit, unleashed a scathing attack on their surging rivals Reform.

"Nigel Farage tells us he wants to run the country, but he can't even run a party small enough to fit in a Nissan Micra," a Tory source told GB News.

"Will the last person in Reform UK who isn't Farage please turn out the lights?"