Zia Yusuf resigns as Reform UK chairman

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.

"Politics can be a highly pressured and difficult game and Zia has clearly had enough. He is a loss to us and public life," he wrote on social media.

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 Reform MP 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".

Her call appeared to go down well with Reform's other MPs, although a party spokesman said it was "not party policy".

Yusuf became Reform UK's chairman shortly after last year's general election, after previously being a member of the Conservative Party.

A former banker who sold his tech start-up company for more than £200m, Yusuf has described himself as a "proud British Muslim patriot".

He revealed that he had donated £200,000 to the party during the election campaign.

As chairman, he was given the job of professionalising the party, wooing donors and increasing Reform UK's activist base.