Zia Yusuf has quit as Reform Party chairman. Nigel Farage and other power brokers within the Reform fold took to social media in an attempt at message control not long after Yusuf announced the parting of ways this evening. “Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life,” Farage said to the nation about Yusuf’s decision to walk away.
“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office,” Zia Yusuf wrote
But Yusuf’s choice of words in his resignation statement suggested there may be more to this story. “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office,” Yusuf wrote on X. Ouch. There’s just no way to sugarcoat it: the now former Reform chairman has stormed off in a huff. His departure could cost Reform dearly.
During the local election campaign, I travelled around the country and spoke to any Reform activist who would deign to have a chat with me. In doing so, I found out a lot about the rise of Reform and why it was happening. I was surprised at how much Yusuf popped into the conversation, unprompted by myself. Always in a positive way, I hasten to add.
“Zia is such an asset,” a Reform activist in Nuneaton told me in April. “You know, here’s a British-Asian Muslim, in a real position of power in the party. It just shows we aren’t a bunch of racists, are we? We just want to fix the country.”
For a lot of Reform people on the ground, Yusuf was emblematic of something important. No, they aren’t a bunch of far-right racists like some in the liberal media always tries to say they are. We have a British Asian chairman, see?
Yusuf also represented the professionalisation of the party to many Reform members; to what extent this was ever a fair assessment of Yusuf’s actual abilities, I guess we’ll never know. But given the unbelievably fabulous results for Reform a little over a month ago, Yusuf seemed to have cemented himself within the party’s power structure for the foreseeable future. Until this week, that is.
To what extent this fallout is over Reform MP Sarah Pochin’s comments at PMQs about banning the burqa, and Yusuf’s subsequent denial of that being party policy, isn’t clear. What I do know is that Reform are in a strangely vulnerable place after this resignation. Their ability to form a government after the next general election may come down to how they handle the aftermath of Yusuf’s departure.
Part of the Reform success story since the last general election has been down to how bad all the other parties have been. Labour have struggled with government. The Tories picked a terrible leader who has been even worse than anyone could have predicted. In other words, Reform have benefitted greatly from everyone deciding to vacate the pitch. But that is probably not going to last forever. In fact, it may not last very long at all. Labour could figure out how to govern effectively and the Tories could get a leader that is half decent for a change. Both of those could happen at the same time – and alter the equation for Reform dramatically in the process.
Farage has his political skill (he is miles ahead of every other politician in the UK at present on this), and many voters are animated by issues, such as migration, that he’s been on the front foot about for ages. But in the wake of Yusuf’s resignation, I was reminded of something an ex-Tory MEP said to me the other week: “Reform is a cult, plain and simple”.
I disagree with that assessment and feel it underestimates what the appeal of Reform (and Farage himself) rests upon. Yet I could see the point he was trying to make a little clearer. Unless Farage can find a solid group of people to work with – and soon – he risks his project dying in as dramatic a fashion as it has risen. Everyone’s vote is soft at the moment, which is both Farage’s strength and weakness – yes, people could vote Reform in unprecedented numbers having never done so previously. But just as likely is that they flee at any sign of weakness. Yusuf’s resignation, in that light, is a serious moment for Reform to contend with.
Both Labour and the Conservative party are bad right now, wildly out of favour and out of touch with the electorate. While this is the case, Farage needs to cement his position. Rumour has it he wants to attract Labour and Lib Dem figures to Reform. He can do so while the iron is hot and change the whole future of British politics – but he does need to prove he can work with people who aren’t slavishly loyal to him along the way, something he has yet to do. Watch this space.
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