Zia Yusuf The tycoon who ruffled feathers with his corporate approach to politics

Delivered without warning in a 54-word tweet, Zia Yusuf's announcement that he was standing down as Reform UK's chair has seemingly come out of the blue.

- Ben Quinn

For close watchers of Nigel Farage's party in recent times, however, the departure of the man largely credited with "professionalising" its operation before last year's general election performance and last month's local election breakthrough is less of a shock.

Yusuf is a self-described "British Muslim patriot", and it had not been hard to find Islamophobic commentary about him among users of Reform UK Facebook groups.

Others who left the party or who have been ejected from it were angered by his corporate approach, which they blamed for making it a cold house for grassroots veterans and mavericks.

In the 11 months in which he had been Reform's chair, Yusuf brought with him the ethos and language that might be more associated with a vibrant tech start-up than a hard-right British political party.

A businessman who had made a fortune from selling his luxury concierge service Velocity Black in 2023 for a reported $300m (£240m), Yusuf exploded onto the political scene last June by donating a six-figure sum to Farage's party.

The two men had known each other for years, having met at a party hosted by the former Ukip treasurer Stuart Wheeler.