Zia Yusuf, Chairman of the Reform party
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Chairman of the nativist Reform U.K. party, Zia Yusuf, has quit over a new MP from his party asking whether the U.K. government would ban the burqa.

“Eleven months ago, I became chairman of Reform. I’ve worked full time as a volunteer to take the party from 14% to 30%, quadrupled its membership and delivered historic electoral results,” Mr. Yusuf said on X, adding, he was quitting his job as it was no longer a good use of his time.

On Wednesday (June 4, 2025), Reform’s new MP, Sarah Pochin, asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the segment for Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) whether his government would ban the burqa on public safety grounds, following the example of several other European countries. Mr. Starmer had said he would not go down that path.

“I do think it’s dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do,” Mr. Yusuf said.

Reform U.K. leader and MP, Nigel Farage, said he was “genuinely sorry” to see Mr. Yusuf go, crediting him for Reform’s success in the May 1 local elections in England.

The results, which were a crushing defeat for the Conservatives and a warning sign for Labour, had rattled Mr. Starmer, prompting his government to announce restrictions on immigration and a partial rollback in cuts to winter fuel subsidies for senior citizens.

The news of Mr. Yusuf’s departure came as Scottish Labour’s Davy Russell won the Scottish parliamentary constituency of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, taking it from the Scottish National Party (SNP) after a crucial byelection on Thursday (June 5, 2025).

Labour and the SNP won 31.6% and 29.4% of the votes, respectively, while Reform secured 26.1% of the vote share. During the campaign, Mr. Farage had accused Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who was born in Scotland to parents from Pakistan, of “sectarianism” over comments he had made a 2022 event celebrating Pakistan’s 75th anniversary of Independence. Mr. Farage’s remarks had been denounced as racist by the SNP and Labour.

On Friday (June 6, 2025), Mr. Farage celebrated the vote share his party had won in the byelection.