Zia Yusuf's return to Reform UK ‘great news', says deputy leader
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has said it is 'great news' that Zia Yusuf is returning to the party just 48 hours after quitting as its chairman, adding he has 'done a brilliant job in growing the party'.
Mr Yusuf said his decision to stand down had been the result of 'exhaustion' and working for 11 months 'without a day off'.
Party leader Nigel Farage, speaking to the Sunday Times newspaper alongside Mr Yusuf, said the former chairman will now effectively be doing 'four jobs', though his title has not yet been decided.
He 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 ex-chairman will also take part in policymaking, fundraising and media appearances.
Mr Yusuf said he was quitting Reform following the latest in a series of internal rows, in which he described a question to the Prime Minister concerning a ban on burkas from his party's newest MP as 'dumb'.
On Sunday, it was put to Mr Tice that it does not look very professional for Reform's chairman to be in, out, then back in again.
He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'Zia Yusuf has done a brilliant job in growing the party, creating huge infrastructure, over 400 branches, but it's a massive job and as we were growing incredibly fast, essentially that job was too much for one person, so we're reorganising, and I'm delighted that Zia is staying with the party, and he's going to be focusing on our Doge unit.
'There is so much waste you've been talking about, how does the Government find more money?
'Well, the best thing is to stop wasting money. I'm afraid, what we're discovering as we look under the bonnet of the 10 councils that we are now in control of, is there's waste everywhere, and it's got to stop.
'That's what Zia is going to focus on, as well as fundraising. So it's great news he's with us.'
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Chris Philp called Reform UK a 'protest party' and said it is offering 'populist policies that are essentially Liz Truss on steroids'.
Asked if it is time for the Conservatives to think about a more constructive approach to Reform, he told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: 'Nigel Farage is saying he wants to destroy the Conservative Party, which makes it quite difficult to work together.
'I mean, they're all essentially a protest party.
'You just asked about Liz Truss… they're offering populist policies that are essentially Liz Truss on steroids.'
Announcing his resignation on Thursday afternoon, Mr Yusuf 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 he had been left feeling undervalued by some in the party and drained after being subjected to relentless racist abuse on X, and that he made the comments in 'error'.
He added: 'I spoke to Nigel and said I don't mind saying I made an error. It was a function of exhaustion.'
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 Sarah Pochin's question to Sir Keir Starmer.
He said: 'If there were a vote and I was in Parliament, I would probably vote to ban it actually,' but that 'philosophically I am always a bit uneasy about banning things which, for example, would be unconstitutional in the United States, which such a ban no doubt would be'.
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