Reform infighting: Nigel Farage has reportedly ‘fallen out of love’ with ‘out of control’ Zia Yusuf
A Reform source has suggested Farage might sack Yusuf
Nigel Farage has “fallen out of love” with “out of control” Zia Yusuf, the Daily Mail has reported a Reform source as saying.
Farage is being urged to sack Reform’s home affairs spokesperson after he called former defence secretary Ben Wallace “a traitor to Britain” last week for allowing thousands of Afghans who had served in the British army to seek refuge in the UK.
Yusuf’s inflammatory comment led to him getting a “ticking off” from the Reform leader.
Farage publicly distanced himself from Yusuf’s remarks, telling the Sun that they were “over the top”.
“That is too strong a language. I shall give him a ticking off, don’t worry,” Farage said.
Yusuf snubbed Farage by refusing to delete the post on X in which he called Wallace “a traitor to Britain”.
In an article published on Saturday, the Mail reported an unnamed source as saying: “Nigel has fallen out of love with Zia, who is out of control. I think his days are numbered.”
Neither Farage nor Reform have confirmed the source’s account that Yusuf is at risk of being sacked.
Responding to the Daily Mail’s reporting, Yusuf bizarrely claimed that the Daily Mail was trying to get him sacked to pave the way for a Tory-Reform electoral pact.
In a post on X, Yusuf wrote: “The Daily Mail is campaigning hard for a “pact” between Reform and the Tories.
“So the Tories can then suffocate us.
“They will keep coming for me with this nonsense, quoting the same “anonymous” source because they think I will die before I let that happen.
“They are correct!”.
This isn’t the first time an internal row between Farage and Yusuf has broken out.
Last June, Yusuf quit and then returned to the party just 48 hours later after Reform MP Sarah Pochin called on then prime minister Keir Starmer to ban the burqa.
Yusuf had criticised Pochin’s intervention, calling it “dumb” and arguing that Reform was not committed to such a policy.
When Yusuf resigned, he said: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
As well as being Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, Yusuf is also a Reform donor. In 2024, he donated £406,000 to the party.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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