Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf Steps Down After Burqa Ban Debate Explodes
This week, Reform UK faced one of its biggest shake-ups since its surge in popularity, as Zia Yusuf quit his post as chairman. His resignation comes after just 11 months and follows a dramatic burst of controversy around calls to ban the burqa in public—an idea reignited earlier this week not by the party's leadership, but by backbench Reform MP Sarah Pochin during the high-profile Prime Minister’s Questions.
Pochin asked Labour’s Keir Starmer whether Britain should adopt measures similar to France and Denmark, putting a burqa ban on the national agenda after years off the political radar. The backlash was immediate. Reform UK’s leadership scrambled to assure the public and party members that barring traditional Muslim dress was not their official stance. But the fire was already lit. Party figurehead Nigel Farage added fuel, saying that a national conversation on the issue was necessary, though he stopped short of making it a formal pledge.
Yusuf, who had taken over the chairmanship as Reform fought to carve out space in a crowded right-wing landscape, announced his exit on social media. He was blunt: he no longer believed that fighting for a Reform government was the right use of his energy. If that message wasn’t clear enough, his abrupt departure painted a picture of deep frustration behind the scenes, amplified by his own success—under his watch, Reform UK’s membership swelled to four times its size, and polls had shown the party leap from 14% to an eye-catching 30%. Electoral wins backed up the data, promising Reform a possible kingmaker role in the near future.
Chaos in the Ranks as Scottish By-election Looms
But that momentum hasn’t come without cost. The tension that burst into public view this week had been building for months. Internal squabbles over direction and discipline had grown more urgent, especially as Reform’s brand turned from insurgent to potential mainstream contender. Many inside the party were caught off guard by Pochin’s question in Parliament, seeing it as off-message and unnecessarily divisive. It shone a light on uncertain messaging and poor coordination, and as one former insider bluntly put it, “the whole thing’s a shit show.”
This internal turmoil couldn’t have come at a worse time. Scottish voters in Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse are about to head to the polls for a major by-election. A strong performance for Reform would be a seismic event, changing the conversation not just for the party but for Scotland’s entire political scene. Instead of celebrating their momentum, Reform’s big players are now scrambling to reassure supporters that the party remains united and focused despite all appearances to the contrary.
Even as the dust still settles from Yusuf’s resignation, the burqa ban debate he leaves behind continues to ripple through the party and beyond. Some see the spat as a necessary growing pain—a test of whether Reform can stay disciplined as it grows. Others worry it’s a signal that unity may be impossible if the party keeps reaching for contentious issues without consensus. For now, one thing is clear: the party Yusuf helped shape is no longer the outsider it once was, and the stakes for its next steps are higher than ever.
Write a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *