Reform UK chairman reverses decision to quit party

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf has reversed his decision to quit the party, saying "the mission is too important" and that he "cannot let people down".

In a statement on X, he said: "Over the last 24 hours I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider.

"After 11 months of working as a volunteer to build a political party from scratch, with barely a single day off, my tweet was a decision born of exhaustion."

He added: "I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down.

"So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled."

Mr Yusuf said he would be returning in a new role.

"Reform has come a long way since I was appointed Chairman, and has moved from 'startup' to 'scaleup'," he said.

"Given this, and that we have now won power at a local level, I will focus on a new role. I will be running the UK DOGE team to fight for taxpayers, as well as working on party policy and representing it in the media.

"I will continue to give all my time to the most important project of my life, getting a Reform government elected with Nigel as Prime Minister."

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