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Daily Mirror
10-06-2025
- 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".
Telegraph
10-06-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Reform's new chairman is Most Haunted TV star
Reform UK's new chairman is a former TV presenter known for fronting a reality show about hunting ghosts. Dr David Bull, who is also an ex-hospital doctor, will take over from Zia Yusuf, who dramatically resigned from the party last week before rejoining just two days later. Dr Bull is a former deputy leader of Reform, having held the role from 2021 to 2024, when he was replaced by Richard Tice on Nigel Farage's return as leader. For around a year, the 56-year-old shared the job with Ben Habib, who has since quit the party and become an outspoken supporter of Reform critic Rupert Lowe. Before entering politics, Dr Bull worked as a TV host, starting as an on-screen doctor for Sky TV in the mid-1990s before joining Newsround, the children's news show, and going on to present the paranormal series Most Haunted Live. He has also appeared on BBC's Watchdog, going on to host the spin-off Watchdog Healthcheck and the live science show Tomorrow's World. He is now a presenter on TalkTV, the news channel owned by Rupert Murdoch, which went online-only last year. Dr Bull, who reportedly backs 'binning the burka', was revealed as Reform's new chairman by the Daily Mail. He will replace Mr Yusuf, who stepped down from his position in spectacular fashion last Thursday before rejoining in a new role on Saturday. His resignation followed a disagreement within the party over whether to ban the burka, an idea he branded 'dumb'. Senior Reform figures also said that Mr Yusuf's professional style, born of his former career as a Goldman Sachs banker, had led to personality clashes at the top of the party. The former chairman will now lead Reform's so-called UK Doge team, inspired by the US Department of Government Efficiency set up by Donald Trump and run by Elon Musk. Dr Bull is also a former doctor and has written two books: Cool and Celibate? Sex and No Sex and What Every Girl Should Know. According to his website, he qualified as a doctor in 1993 and went on to work for the NHS at St Mary's Hospital, Ealing Hospital and the Whittington Hospital, all in London, in the fields of general medicine, emergency medicine and general practice. He was briefly a Brexit Party MEP and initially ran as the Tory candidate for Brighton Pavilion in 2009 before stepping down to lead a Conservative policy review on sexual health. A Reform source told the Daily Mail: '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.'
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: The new Reform chairman who used to be a TV presenter. ANDREW PIERCE lifts the lid
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.'
