Zia Yousaf returns to Reform UK just 48 hours after stepping down as party chairman, claiming his resignation was a 'mistake'.
The 38-year-old businessman said his decision to leave his post was due to “exhaustion” and working for 11 months “without a day off”.
Party leader Nigel Farage, speaking alongside Mr Yousaf in an interview with The Sunday Times, said the former chairman would now effectively be playing “four roles”, although his new role has not yet been defined.
He will lead Reform's drive to cut public spending – the so-called “British Rain” inspired by the US Department of Government Effectiveness once headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The former chairman will also be involved in policy development, fundraising and media appearances.
Mr Yusuf said he left the Reform party after a fresh wave of internal rows in which he described a question to the British prime minister about banning the burqa from a new member of parliament from his party as “stupid”.
Announcing his resignation on Thursday afternoon, he said: “I no longer believe that the work of electing a reform government is a good use of my time and I hereby resign.”
Mr Yusuf added that some party members had left him feeling unappreciated and empty after he was subjected to repeated racist abuse towards X and made the comments “by mistake”.
“I spoke to Nigel and said I was okay with admitting I made a mistake. It was because I was tired,” he said.
Asked about the row over the burqa ban debate, Mr Yousaf clarified that he “certainly did not resign because of any particular views on the burqa itself” but was taken aback by Sarah Pochin's question to Sir Keir Starmer.
He noted that “if there was a vote and I was in Parliament, I would probably vote to ban it,” but philosophically he is always a little worried about banning things that would be unconstitutional in the United States, for example, and such a ban certainly would be.
Reform will hope that the show of unity between Mr Farage and the former chairman will be enough to allay fears of internal conflict amid a recent investigation into the leader's rift with former allies.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
