Nigel Farage says he has forgiven Zia Yusuf for resignation
Businessman Mr Yusuf returned to the party over the weekend, just 48 hours after he quit his position, saying he had made an 'error'.
Speaking in Port Talbot on Monday, Mr Farage said: 'Let's be clear, I think Zia's done a great job.
'Under enormous pressure, and by the way, a level of abuse – racist abuse online – unlike I think anybody in modern politics has ever had to put up with.
'He made a mistake, he got it wrong. It plunged us for a few hours into a difficult place.
'He expressed his regret to me, I forgave him. I did say 'don't do it again', but I forgave him.'
Mr Farage went on to say that Mr Yusuf is coming back 'into a very very big job'.
'Would I rather those couple of days hadn't happened? Yes. But look how quickly and effectively we have dealt with it,' he added.
Mr Yusuf's departure followed an internal row, in which he described a question asked to the Prime Minister by the party's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, about banning the burka as 'dumb'.
Reform UK party chairman Zia Yusuf speaks during a press conference in Westminster, London (Ben Whitley/PA)
Announcing his resignation on Thursday afternoon, he said: 'I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.'
Mr Yusuf said at the weekend that his decision to stand down had been due to 'exhaustion' after working for 11 months 'without a day off'.
He said he had been left feeling undervalued by some in the party and drained after being subjected to relentless racist abuse on X, and made the comments in 'error'.
'I spoke to Nigel and said I don't mind saying I made an error. It was a function of exhaustion,' he told the Sunday Times.
Asked about the row over talk of banning the burka, Mr Yusuf said he 'certainly did not resign because I have any strong views about the burka itself' but felt blindsided by Ms Pochin's question to Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Farage told the same newspaper that Mr Yusuf will now effectively be doing 'four jobs' for the party, although his title is yet to be decided.
Mr Yusuf will lead Reform's plans to cut public spending – the so-called 'UK Doge', based on the US Department of Government Efficiency, which was led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The former chairman will also take part in policymaking, fundraising and media appearances.
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"He couldn't afford what he's saying and the truth is the mines aren't going to re-open, they shouldn't re-open, these would be dangerous jobs and would be economically unviable. He should go home and be ashamed of himself."It makes me really cross that somebody waves this kind of flag, populism at its absolute worst. He knows he can't achieve it, he knows it wouldn't be right for climate change, for the economy, he knows he's on a hiding to nothing." A spokesperson for Community Union, one of the largest unions representing steelworkers at Tata's Port Talbot site, said: 'We will always support credible policies that create more well-paid jobs in the steel sector, but our steel communities deserve better than to be used as a political football. If Reform have serious plans for the future of our steel sector in Wales, they should set them out in full.' A Welsh Labour spokesperson has accused the Reform UK leader of bringing "fantasy politics" and a "magic money tree" to the town. They said: 'The people of Wales will see through the false hope and false promises of a public-school boy from England who does not understand them and does not understand Wales. In a wide-ranging press conference, Farage also announced a number of policies of immigration in Wales if Reform UK topped the polls next May: A pledge to put local people at the front of the social housing queue and to stop the use of any building for asylum seeker accommodation To scrap nation of sanctuary status for Wales To stop funding for "woke" policies including: £10.5 million for Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights budget, £440,000 on developing insects for food, including insect-based food for children and to end funding to the Wales Refugee Council. Farage's speech comes as Reform seeks to draw a line under internal clashes after chairman Zia Yusuf quit the party on Thursday only to return 48 hours later, saying the resignation had been 'born out of exhaustion'. He referenced this disagreement in his speech saying: "We hit a speed bump- it could've been that we were driving more than 20mph", jibing at the Welsh Government's default speed limit policy - something he has pledged to scrap if Reform UK were in power in the Senedd. It followed a row in which Yusuf described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party's newest MP, Sarah Pochin, as 'dumb'. During his speech Farage also welcomed two independent Merthyr Tydfil Councillors who have defected to Reform UK - Andrew Barry and David Hughes. When pressed on whether there would be more high-profile defections in the Senedd or in Parliament, and if he'll name any candidate to stand as First Minister in Wales, he insisted "we very much want to look at Reform Wales being autonomous. There are names in Wales that I am talking to."
