Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has been dealt a major blow after the party’s chairman resigned following a row over banning the burka.
Zia Yusuf announced on Thursday that he was quitting the role he has held for almost a year.
In a post on X, he wrote: “Eleven 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.”
Mr Farage said he was “genuinely sorry” to see his chairman resign and was "a huge factor" in the party's success in last month's elections, when it won a by-election, two mayoral races and gained 677 new councillors.
The Reform leader said: “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.”
See also: Zia Yusuf: the Muslim mega-donor to Reform UK who has now quit as party's chair
It follows Mr Yusuf branding comments made by the party's newest MP about a burka ban as "dumb".
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.
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) June 5, 2025
I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and…
Sarah Pochin, who last month was elected as MP of Runcorn and Helsby in Cheshire, asked Sir Keir Starmer whether Britain will join the likes of France and Denmark in banning the garment being worn in public.
The burka, which is worn by some Muslim women, is a traditional dress that covers the entire body, including the face.
Ms Pochin, a former Conservative councillor, urged Sir Keir to ban the clothing "in the interests of public safety" during her Prime Minister's Questions debut on Wednesday.
In response to Ms Pochin, the PM told the Commons: "Can I welcome her to her place, but I’m not going to follow her down that line."
Mr Yusuf, a self-described “British Muslim patriot” who was seen as a key ally of Mr Farage, suggested she should have chosen a different topic for her debut 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 said.
A Reform UK spokesman later clarified that banning burkas was not party policy.
Yusuf was seen as central to Reform's operation and was leading the party's so-called “DOGE teams” - a reference to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in the US - to cut wasteful spending in the councils it now controls.
He became Reform UK's chairman shortly after last year's general election, after previously being a member of the Conservative Party.
A former Goldman Sachs banker who sold his tech start-up company for more than £200m, Yusuf revealed that he had donated £200,000 to the party during the election campaign.
As chairman, he was given the job of professionalising the party, wooing donors and increasing Reform UK's activist base.
His resignation comes on the day Reform hopes to cause an upset in Scotland, where it is contesting a Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney has described the contest as a "two-horse race" between his SNP and Reform.
It is the latest high-profile departure of a senior Reform figure.
Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe was suspended by his former party in March after an allegation he made threats towards Mr Yusuf.
Mr Lowe alleged that the suspension was “politically motivated” after he made disparaging remarks about Mr Farage in a newspaper interview.
The Crown Prosecution Service last month announced it had decided not to press charges over the threats he was alleged to have made.
Mr Lowe accused Mr Farage's party of being "the cult of Nigel" and claims he was the victim of a "political assassination attempt".
Mr Lowe reacted to Mr Yusuf’s resignation with an attack on the former chairman in a post on X. He said: "The question is - how did a man with no political experience be given such vast power within Reform?"
Political opponents seized on the resignation, with a Labour spokesperson saying: "If Nigel Farage can't manage a handful of politicians, how on earth could he run a country? He has fallen out with everyone he has ever worked with. Reform are just not serious.
"The Reform chair has done a runner so that he doesn't have to front up Farage's £80 billion in unfunded cuts, which would spark a Liz Truss-style economic meltdown.
"Nigel Farage's plans would put up every single mortgage in the country and hammer family finances, while forcing them to buy private healthcare. Working people simply can't afford the risk of Reform UK."
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said: "By sacking himself, Zia Yusuf seems to be leading the 'UK Doge' by example. You have to admire his commitment to the cause.
"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."
