Becky Morton
Political reporter
Reuters
Farage said Yusuf was “a huge factor” in the party’s success in last month’s elections, when Reform won a by-election, two mayoral races and gained 677 new councillors.
However, he told GB News he believed Yusuf had “had enough” of politics, which can be “totally unrelenting”.
Farage said he had “suspicions” Yusuf might quit after he seemed “very disengaged” when the pair spoke on Wednesday morning but was only given a “10-minute warning” his resignation was coming.
Asked about reports that some in the party found Yusuf difficult to deal with, Farage said “not everyone got on with him”.
He added: “Were his interpersonal skills at the top of his list of attributes? No. But I always found him, with me, very polite.”
In a post on X, Yusuf wrote: “11 months ago I became chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14 to 30% [in national polls], quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results.
“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
Earlier, Yusuf had criticised Sarah Pochin – who won last month’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election – for urging Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka “in the interests of public safety” during her Prime Minister’s Questions debut on Wednesday.
He said it was “dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do”.
Pochin’s call appeared to go down well with Reform’s other MPs, although a party spokesman said it was “not party policy”.
The party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said there should be a “national debate” about a possible ban.
However he declined to state what his position would on the issue.
In response to Yusuf quitting, Pochin said
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