Exit and then re-enter stage right: Reform's departed chief is back

48 hours after quitting the party, Zia Yusuf is in the fold again. Not everybody is thrilled

- Catherine Neilan

When Reform UK party staffers rocked up at their Westminster local, the Marquis of Granby, last Thursday, they had reason to celebrate. Voting in the byelection of Hamilton, Stonehouse and Larkhall pointed to Reform making headway in Scotland

But the more immediate issue was the resignation of Zia Yusuf, the party chair, who quit seemingly out of nowhere while the polls were still open. The departure of yet another senior party figure, who posted a statement saying: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time,” seemed a reputational blow. But the mood in the pub was upbeat. “Drinks at the MOG were not miserable,” said one source the next day. Another added: “A lot of people are celebrating the fact that Zia has gone.”

Those celebrations were shortlived. Within 48 hours, Yusuf and Reform had made up and the former chairman is back ~ although his role has yet to be decided. One source close to Yusuf told The Observer Farage had been bereft, saying: “Nigel has been speaking to him half a dozen times a day. It was like he’d lost a limb.”