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Spectator
2 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Does David Bull know why people vote Reform?
In a week of high drama, in which Reform lost its chairman and then saw him return 48 hours later, the party could have hoped for a quiet news day. Slim chance of that. After Zia Yusuf returned as party chairman, Reform held a press conference to announce that Yusuf would head the party's DOGE unit to uncover waste at councils – and would be replaced as chairman by Dr David Bull. A former Conservative, Bull is better known than his predecessor was when taking the role, having formerly presented Newsround and Most Haunted, becoming an MEP for the Brexit party in 2019 and the co-host of the TalkTV weekend breakfast show in 2022. As James Heale notes, he is also popular with members, being both 'a gregarious character and a longtime Farage loyalist.' A key part of Bull's role will be in handling the media; but his first steps in the new role, it appears he has already stumbled, stating that 'immigration is the lifeblood of this country, it always has been'.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Britain's voters can't resist a messy drama. How fortunate for Nigel Farage and Reform
It was a busy week for on-again off-again Reform chair Zia Yusuf, whose job over the past 11 months had been to reform Reform. (I know.) Zia quit on Thursday. Had his job split on Friday. Returned on Saturday. Chilled on Sunday. The job split seems to have endured though, as Yusuf will now run a UK version of Doge – as we know, the perfect role for highly emotional men – while this very morning, Nigel Farage was unveiling a new chair: Dr David Bull. David brings extensive experience with witchcraft, ghosts, spirits and beasts from his time as presenter of paranormal reality TV show Most Haunted Live, where he packaged the wailings of reekingly obvious charlatan/compelling spirit medium Derek Acorah for a studio audience. I can't imagine what this CV could do for Reform, but Nigel Farage must have seen something in it. Derek Acorah crossed permanently to the spirit world in January 2020, but it would be nice to think that shouldn't be a bar to his being selected as one of those Reform candidates credited with being able to make deep connections with a public that is desperately searching for something beyond the ordinary. It would certainly be a less mad development than some other of the party's activities this week. On Monday, Farage could be found in Wales promising to reopen Port Talbot steelworks, a plan so nutso that it could only really be believed by conspiracy theorists. Jet fuel can't melt steel beams – and Nigel Farage can re-melt steel furnaces that have cooled solid. Sure thing! Also, he might very well win the next election, so make of that what you will. From the Rupert Lowe conflagration to the Yusuf hokey cokey last weekend, it has to be said that the endless drama in Reform this year hasn't dented Farage's party's poll ratings one tiny bit. In fact, up they climb. My theory is that at some level, people actively like it. They liked Boris Johnson's fecklessness and chaos too – until, admittedly, they really didn't. Still, what a run. As discussed here previously, Britain is a majority nutter nation, and in recent history our deepest and most long-lasting political affections have been reserved for figures across the spectrum who had something of the nutter to them. Thatcher, Blair, Johnson … all nutters. Even Corbyn did miles better than he should have, simply by virtue of being a nutter – though he ultimately failed for not being a kindred nutter. Reform give the impression of being long and strong in nutters. 'He crawled out under the wire,' twinkled Farage this morning of Yusuf's 'bid for freedom', 'but we got him back in!' 'Sorry to put you all through that!' said Yusuf with a slightly strangulated smile. 'I did realise the only way I was going to get a couple of days off was to resign and then come back again … I can't thank Nigel enough for having me back. I regret those tweets, I was exhausted.' As Farage implied, this is just the sort of thing that happens when passionate people care almost too much. For decades, the deepest analysis afforded to the England football side was that they needed to play with more 'passion', and there is now a huge amount of this in the way we assess politicians. Keir Starmer, a sterile lawyer who communicates with all the vim of a recorded 'see it, say it, sorted' message, does not reach the parts that need reaching. Farage speaks a more natural language, and consequently gets away with dismissing with one joke a row that would have consumed other parties' PR machines for weeks. 'Reform hit a speed bump last week,' he said in Wales of Yusuf's resignation and unresignation. 'Maybe it's because we were driving above the recommended 20mph …' Arguably, it was ever thus. Reform keeps refreshing its moniker, but in many ways it's still the same – like a bankrupt who changes his name each time he moves town and starts another double-glazing business. Ukip, the Brexit party, Reform – every time Nigel leads another one you hear a lot about professional revolution, but at some level they're still the same outfit where one MEP had some altercation with another one, after which the latter collapsed in the European parliament. As Neil Hamilton insisted at the time, this is simply the sort of thing that happens when 'passions run high'. But by far the most important part is: it doesn't seem to matter. What's changed in a post-Trump world is that chaos and drama can be repolished as political assets. As I say, I think the lack of discipline is part of the appeal. Discipline – what really is there to love about that word for most people? It smacks of being told off, which many have had quite enough of over the past decade of elite cultural policing. Politicians who manage rigidly conventional discipline above almost anything else have become regarded as robotic, while prodigals like Farage are polling like they're worth laying on a fatted takeaway for. Instead of trying to counter Farage with the very conventions to which he is an adverse reaction, the two main parties should consider how unbelievably badly they've cocked things up that Nigel's rolling drama seems like a good idea. 'Can we do it?' wondered Dr David Bull rhetorically this morning of making Farage prime minister. 'Well, to quote Bob the Builder: YES WE CAN.' Can't help thinking it was someone other than Bob the Builder who made 'yes we can' into an iconic political slogan … but – to use words which may function equally well as a Reform slogan – let's not get bogged down in details. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Former Newsround and Most Haunted star becomes Reform UK's new chairman
Dr David Bull takes over from Zia Yusuf, who dramatically quit as Reform UK's chairman last week, before returning to the party in a new position just two days later A former BBC Newsround presenter has been made Reform UK's new chairman. Dr David Bull takes over from Zia Yusuf, who dramatically quit the role last week, before returning to the party in a new position just two days later. Nigel Farage welcomed Dr Bull, who was previously Reform's co-deputy leader, saying he would come to the role of Reform UK chairman with "terrific verve, energy, enthusiasm". Mr Farage, Reform's leader, added: "It's going to be great fun." Mr Yusuf said he is "hugely excited" that Dr Bull was taking the role. Some viewers might recognise Dr Bull, now 56, from his former years as a TV presenter, with his credits including Newsround and paranormal series Most Haunted. The now Talk TV presenter's broadcasting career first started in 1995, when he starred as an on-screen doctor for Sky TV giving people advice to people travelling abroad. The Reform politician then joined Newsround in the late 1990s. It followed Dr Bull having qualified as a physician in 1993 from St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London. He went to present other BBC kids shows, before joining BBC's Watchdog to present its Healthcheck spin-off. His presenting credits also include Most Haunted Live and Hospital Live. After his years as a TV doctor, Dr Bull turned to politics. He was selected as Tory candidate for Brighton Pavilion but stood down in 2009 before the election to head up a Conservative policy review on sexual health with Anne Milton, the shadow health minister. In 2019, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament, as part of The Brexit Party, and served until the UK left the EU. He has since been Reform UK's Deputy leader and health spokesman. Mr Yusuf resigned after criticising Reform MP Sarah Pochin for asking a "dumb" question at PMQs about a burka ban. In a parting jibe, he added: "I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office." But he returned to the party just days later. Mr Yusuf said he regrets his social media post about Ms Pochin. He will now lead the so-called "Doge team", which is inspired by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in Donald Trump's administration. Dr Bull reportedly backs "banning the burqa".
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
The new Reform chairman who used to be a TV presenter
A television presenter who made his name fronting a popular show about ghosts and the paranormal is to be unveiled tomorrow as Reform's new boss, the Mail can reveal. Dr David Bull, 56, who backs 'binning the burka', will replace Zia Yusuf whose resignation as chairman last Thursday threatened to plunge Nigel Farage 's party into chaos. The new chairman is a former hospital doctor who moved into broadcasting shortly after he qualified at London 's St Mary's Medical Hospital School in 1993. His most prominent presenting role was on paranormal reality TV show Most Haunted Live! The openly gay Dr Bull, 56, follows the Scottish born Yusuf, 38, who is the son of Sri Lankan Muslims. 'I think we are ticking the right diversity boxes,' joked one senior Reform figure today. Last week, Yusuf, a multi-millionaire businessman, provoked uproar when he criticised Reform's newest MP Sarah Pochin for calling for a burka ban in the Commons at Prime Minister's Questions . The next day Yusuf, 38, unexpectedly quit to the relief of many of his senior colleagues who found him difficult to work with. Unlike Yusuf, the new Reform chairman is an advocate of banning the burka, which he regards as an 'anti-British symbol'. Farage hopes the Bull appointment will calm the frayed nerves of many party members coming, as it does, just three months after the resignation of the Reform MP Rupert Lowe. He quit in protest at Farage's 'dictatorial' style of leadership. When Yusuf resigned on Thursday he said he no longer believed that working for Reform to win power at the next election was 'a good use of my time'. Many Reform senior figures feared he would deliver a devastating post-resignation interview but, in a bizarre twist, he instead announced on Saturday he was rejoining Reform only 48 hours after he quit. He is being put in charge of Reform's 'Doge' team, which is modelled on the Department of Government Efficiency set up by US President Trump in the US . Asked today why he had resigned as chairman, Yusuf told the BBC: 'I've been working pretty much non-stop, virtually no days off. It is very difficult to keep going at that pace.' Yusuf alienated many party members with his abrupt manner and controlling style of management. Arron Banks, a founder of Leave EU who is a close friend of Mr Farage, said that Yusuf was a 'control freak' who was 'prone to changing his mind frequently'. One party source said: 'Yusuf's new role will keep him out of party HQ as he will be visiting the county councils which we now run across the country to try to cut out waste. It will be a better use of his talents and energies.' There had been speculation that Ann Widdecombe, 77, the redoubtable former Tory prisons minister who defected to Mr Farage's side in 2019 , would be the new chairman. 'It's not Widdecombe even though she is very highly regarded,' said a source. Dr Bull, who is a presenter on the Rupert Murdoch channel Talk, is not wealthy like Yusuf, who netted £30 million from the sale of an upmarket concierge firm. Briefly a Brexit Party MEP, he is described by colleagues as collegiate and a team player. Before joining Farage's Brexit Party, Dr Bull was the Tory parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion when David Cameron was party leader. But he stood down in 2009 and headed up a policy review on sexual health. He published his first book, Cool And Celibate?: Sex And No Sex, arguing the benefits of abstinence for teenagers. A former anchor of the BBC current affairs programme Newsround, he presented Most Haunted Live! between 2002 and 2005. A Reform source said: 'He looks and sounds good and he's been out and proud for years so we have no worries about any skeletons in his closet.'
