Burka Ban Row Triggers Reform UK Chairman’s Exit

Has the veil slipped, revealing a Party less about policy, more about reheated culture wars…Is this the real face behind Reform?

Zia Yusuf has resigned as chairman of Reform UK, and despite the diplomatic language about it no longer being “a good use of my time,” this is a damning indictment of everyone involved.

Let’s cut through the political spin. Yusuf didn’t just wake up one morning and decide politics was boring. His resignation came immediately after he publicly called it “dumb” for Reform’s newest MP to demand Sir Keir Starmer ban the burka.

The Party chairman, supposedly steering the ship, publicly contradicts the Party’s messaging, then walks away within days. That’s not coincidence.

That’s a man who’s seen something in the Party’s direction or internal culture that he refuses to be associated with.

Farage’s Damage Control Operation

Of course, Farage spins this disaster. He’s “genuinely sorry” to lose someone he calls “enormously talented” but immediately starts briefing against Yusuf’s character. Suddenly, the man who was “a huge factor” in Reform’s recent electoral success has poor “interpersonal skills” and “not everyone got on with him.”

That seems to be ‘Classic Farage’. When someone leaves his orbit, they’re instantly recast as the problem. Never mind that Yusuf helped deliver Reform’s by-election win, two mayoral victories, and 677 new councillors. The moment he questions the direction, he becomes difficult to work with.

The Ten-Minute Warning

The most telling detail? Farage got just ten minutes’ notice of the resignation. That’s not how professional politicians handle strategic departures. That’s how people walk away when they’ve had enough of the circus and can’t stomach another day of it.

Farage admits he had “suspicions” Yusuf might quit after seeming “very disengaged” during their Wednesday conversation. Translation: Yusuf was already mentally checked out, probably disgusted by what he was seeing behind the scenes.

Let’s open the doors to more controversy…

This isn’t about whether burka bans are extreme. The facts show they’re not. Sixteen countries currently ban face coverings, including several Muslim-majority nations like Tunisia, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan (which banned the hijab entirely in 2024 despite being 95% Muslim). Only Afghanistan currently mandates burkas worldwide.

Personally, I support open debate on burka bans. There are compelling arguments on multiple fronts from women’s liberation to social integration, but the key word is debate. These are complex issues involving women’s rights, religious freedom, and social cohesion that deserve honest discussion, not political diktat. When policies affecting fundamental freedoms are imposed without genuine consultation, they breed resentment rather than understanding.

But that’s not what this story is really about. The real story is about loyalty and the direction of Reform UK. Yusuf’s reaction reveals where his ultimate allegiance lies. He describes himself as a “British Muslim patriot,” but when Reform advocated a policy affecting British Muslims, a policy that’s mainstream in much of the world, Yusuf chose his religious and cultural identity over his Party.

When forced to choose between political principle and communal loyalty, he didn’t defend Reform’s position or even debate its merits. He walked. That’s not political conviction it’s identity politics in action.

More revealing still, Yusuf’s departure peels off Reform’s ‘moderatish’ mask. His presence offered the Party cover proof, they hoped, that Reform wasn’t veering hard right. With that fig leaf now gone, Reform stands exposed: a Party that wants to talk tough on national values, but flinches when those values clash with the identity politics it pretends to oppose.

The burka may cover the face, but Yusuf’s resignation has unveiled something far more telling: Reform UK’s brittle facade and what kind of “British patriotism” they’re actually peddling.

Reform’s Strategic Dilemma…and Something Much Darker

Reform faces the classic populist challenge: do you chase policies that energise your core base, or do you moderate to appeal to swing voters? Farage clearly believes certain cultural positions are the path to power.

Yusuf disagreed with the approach. And rather than be complicit in what he saw as poor strategy or messaging, he walked away from a Party he’d helped build.

But Yusuf’s departure isn’t happening in isolation. Something much more sinister is emerging about how Reform UK deals with internal dissent. Former Reform MP Rupert Lowe just tweeted:

“They tried to put me in prison on false allegations – they tried to tear me away from my wife, my family, my grandson, my life – all because I questioned Farage. I won’t ever forget that.”

Read that again. A former Reform MP claims Reform tried to have him imprisoned for questioning the Party leader. This isn’t about policy disagreements or strategic differences; this is about using the threat of criminal prosecution to silence internal opposition. The heat isn’t just rising, the mask is coming off entirely, and it looks like there’s something very dark lurking there..

What This Means

When your Party chairman resigns over strategy disagreements within months of electoral success, that’s not growing pains that’s fundamental instability. It suggests Reform UK lacks the political maturity to handle success or the internal discipline to maintain coherent messaging.

More importantly, it reveals tensions between Reform’s different factions: the pragmatists who want to build a serious political Party and those who prefer ideological purity over broader appeal.

This isn’t the first time Farage has seen talented people walk away from his projects. It’s a pattern: recruit competent people, enjoy their contributions, then watch them leave when they realize the operation isn’t as professional as advertised.

The Warning Signs

For Reform voters and members, Yusuf’s resignation should be a wake-up call.

Losing your chairman during a winning streak isn’t just embarrassing, it’s politically dangerous. It sends a signal to potential recruits and voters that something is seriously wrong with the Party’s internal culture. Then again in reflection of the root cause for the resignation, it probably means the far right will be queuing for admission.

The ten-minute warning wasn’t just about Zia Yusuf’s resignation. It was a warning about where Reform UK is heading, the curtain has been pulled back.

For the rest of us, the majority who aren’t drinking Farage’s Kool-Aid, Yusuf’s departure leaves British politics in an even more depressing state….Tories in decline, Labour in disguise, and Reform tearing itself apart in public. When even the protest Party starts protesting itself, you know the system is broken.

Paul Knaggs