How racist abuse pushed Reform’s Zia Yusuf out of politics

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Racist and anti-Muslim abuse on social media has been blamed by Reform UK insiders for Zia Yusuf’s shock decision to quit as party chairman.

Yusuf plunged Nigel Farage’s party into fresh turmoil on Thursday night when he posted on X that he no longer believed that “working to get a Reform government elected” was “a good use of my time”.

The multimillionaire businessman took over as chairman less than a year ago and has been credited with professionalising the party, helping to turn Reform into a serious electoral force.

His decision to resign took Reform officials by surprise, with one telling The i Paper it “happened very quickly”.

Yusuf, a practising Muslim whose parents emigrated to Britain from Sri Lanka, was regularly subjected to racist and anti-Muslim abuse online.

A Reform insider said: “Part of the problem was he was getting all this sh*t from people, not internally, 99 per cent externally, because he happens to be a Muslim.

“I don’t think there was any lack of genuineness in his support for the cause, but you put all that work in, and there are w**kers out there and do you need it in your life?

“I can understand why he might think no.”

A party official said: “I think he had enough of taking flak online.

“He’s obviously 38, it’s very hard to go into politics from business, he’s probably thinking ‘you know what, this is a lot more sh*t than I needed to take’. He can probably go back to business, make a lot more money and not have his name spread everywhere.”

Farage condemned abuse

Farage has publicly condemned the abuse, but the party official said Yusuf “felt like he was constantly having to defend himself”.

A senior Reform councillor agreed that the online abuse had “played a part as to why he stepped back”. “If you’ve got the money that you have, if you’re Zia Yusuf, do you really want the hassle that he was getting?”

Yusuf was contacted for comment by The i Paper , but did not respond.

The resignation came just hours after a row erupted in the party over the burka, with Yusuf condemning as “dumb” a suggestion by newly-elected Reform MP Sarah Pochin that the garment should be banned.

Reform sources tried to play down the extent to which this had contributed to his exit.

They also insisted there had not been a major bust-up with Farage, who has previously fallen out with political colleagues, including Rupert Lowe , who was expelled as a Reform MP in March.

Farage has said he is “genuinely sorry” about Yusuf’s exit. A Reform official said: “Nigel’s set of remarks are absolutely not confected and it’s certainly not a disagreement between the two of them.”

Another Reform insider said the situation was different to previous cases where Farage had clashed with colleagues. “This is not Nigel saying ‘there’s some guy with a profile, f*ck off’. This is a very different kettle of fish.”

Claims of tensions in Reform

Despite this, the manner of Yusuf’s resignation has provided plenty of ammunition to Reform’s opponents. Labour and the Conservatives have seized on the news as evidence of dysfunction within Reform and a personal inability on the part of Farage to build a team around him.

While Reform deny a major falling out between Farage and Yusuf, The i Paper has been told that there were tensions between Yusuf and others in the party.

The Reform insider went on: “Character-wise I don’t think he was necessarily suited to the role of chairman.

“He’s very good at systems and not particularly good at people.

“I think he finds it hard to trust people and if you’re trying to create a huge machine, you’ve got to let good people do their jobs. I think he found it very hard to let go, so it became very micromanaging. There’s been a massive churn of staff.”

The senior Reform councillor agreed that Yusuf did not always know how to handle party activists. They said: “He’s not a politician, he’s a businessman. He’s not Nigel Farage, setting the world alight, having a chat with everybody.”

The councillor said Reform would need its new chairman to “continue the professionalisation, but probably do more of a party role than the operational stuff which I think Zia was really involved in”.

Some people have suggested that Farage could turn to long-term confidants such as Andy Wigmore or Arron Banks – who both worked with him on the Brexit campaign – as possible successors.

But the Reform insider dismissed this: “I can’t see Banks being interested in that whatsoever, and Wigmore, no,” they said. “They’re not chairman people.”

Another name which has been touted is David Bull, the former TV presenter who stood for Reform in West Sussex at the last election.

A Reform official said Farage would “spend his weekend thinking over” a replacement.