Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigns

The chairman of Reform UK has resigned, saying working to get the party into government is not "a good use" of his time.

Scottish businessman Zia Yusuf made the announcement with a statement on X at around 5.30pm.

The news comes as the party pursues a Scottish breakthrough in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. Voting closes at 10pm tonight after weeks of campaigning.

Reform leader Nigel Farage was in the constituency earlier this week and also visited Aberdeen in a bid to boost the party's profile in Scotland.

Yusuf, originally from Bellshill in North Lanarkshire, has been a key figure in the party's rise in England, where it recently made huge gains in the local elections.

He said: "Eleven months ago I became chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30 per cent, 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."

Yusuf's statement comes after he branded the party's newest MP "dumb" for calling on Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka.

Sarah Pochin won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election last month and, in her first appearance at Prime Minister's Questions, asked the PM to take the action "in the interests of public safety".

Reform chief whip Lee Anderson MP said the burka should be banned and "no one should be allowed to hide their identity in public". However, media reports quoted a party spokesperson saying that this is "not party policy".

Addressing the matter on social media, Yusuf said: "I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do."

Responding to Yusuf's announcement, Farage 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."