The ex-chairman of Reform UK is returning to the party just 48 hours after his resignation following peace talks with Nigel Farage.
Former banker Zia Yusuf, 38, quit after saying working to get the party elected was no longer “a good use of my time”.
But Yusuf told The Sunday Times his decision was a “mistake” and the result of “exhaustion” after 11 months “without a day off”.
He then wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “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.
“I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down. So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled.
“I will continue to give all my time to the most important project of my life, getting a Reform government elected with Nigel as Prime Minister.”
The newspaper said he will return in a new role leading Reform’s Elon Musk-inspired Doge unit rooting out wasteful spending in the ten councils it controls, starting in Kent.
Farage has also effectively tasked Yusuf with policymaking, fundraising and media appearances.
Yusuf’s decision follows a row in which he described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party’s newest MP as “dumb”.
Announcing his resignation on Thursday afternoon, the practising Muslim criticised Sarah Pochin after quizzed Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday on something that appears not to be a policy of Reform’s.
Asked about her question on social media, Mr Yusuf had said: “Nothing to do with me. Had no idea about the question nor that it wasn’t policy. Busy with other stuff.
“I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do.”
Following his quitting, Reform leader Farage said he was “genuinely sorry” that he had decided to stand down, paying tribute to him as “enormously talented” and “a huge factor in our success” at the local elections.
Farage added: “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 will hope the show of unity between Farage and the former chairman is enough to quell concerns about internal personality clashes, amid recent scrutiny of the leader’s fallings out with former allies.
It follows the suspension of MP Rupert Lowe from the party following complaints about his conduct, which he denied, and suggested the leader had a tendency to row with colleagues he felt threatened by.
Labour branded Yusuf’s return a “humiliating hokey-cokey” and said working people could not afford “the risk of economic chaos with Reform UK”.
Party chairwoman Ellie Reeves said: “Reform’s revolving door shows that the party is all about one person – Nigel Farage.
“Zia Yusuf’s humiliating hokey-cokey is laughable but there is nothing funny about Farage’s £80 billion in unfunded commitments.
“His reckless plan is Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget on steroids and would spark economic chaos that increases bills and mortgages.
“Working people simply can’t afford the risk of economic chaos with Reform UK.”
The Liberal Democrats meanwhile suggested Yusuf was leading Reform’s plans to cut public spending – the so-called “UK Doge” – by example by quitting.
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.
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) June 7, 2025
After 11 months of working as a volunteer to build a political party from scratch, with barely a single… pic.twitter.com/gPRjpMGdeS
The cost-cutting plans, which have been rolled out in Kent County Council where Reform won control in May, are based on the Department of Government Efficiency in the US, which was led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said on Thursday: “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.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch responded to Mr Yusuf’s announcement on social media site X by saying Reform “is not a political party”.
“It is a fan club,” she added, in a criticism of its leader Farage.
Nathaniel Fried, Reform’s “head of Doge”, also quit alongside Yusuf.
The ex-chairman “got me in”, Fried said in a post on X, adding it was “appropriate for me to leave with him”.
“I have absolute confidence that the Reform Doge will succeed without me,” he also said.
