Zia yusuf

Friday

Tim Shipman

Revealed: the feuding at the heart of Reform

If Tolstoy had written about British politics, he might have noted: “Happy parties are all alike; every unhappy party is unhappy in its own way.” Reform UK is beginning to resemble a laboratory test for the idea that every party run by Nigel Farage is unhappy in the same way. Just as in UKIP and the Brexit party, a highly dominant leader exists at the center of a court, with extreme tensions between loyalist long-marchers and arrivistes, between insurgency and respectability, between campaigning and preparing for government. A new round of bloodletting erupted on August 17, when the founder of ConservativeHome, Tim Montgomerie, who defected to Reform two years ago, was suspended following public criticism of Farage and the party’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf.

reform

Tuesday

William Atkinson

Is Reform cracking up?

There is something sulphurous about Zia Yusuf. The deep-set, unblinking eyes; the ardent belief in his own mission; the position as a Rasputin at the court of Tsar Nigel Farage; a fervid, prophetic interloper. When not prowling the streets of Dover, hunting for an aquatic Afghan to harangue, Yusuf seems to spend his time falling out with his Reform colleagues, having rings run around him by the former editor of this magazine on panels, and speaking about new arrivals with an acidity that only a second-generation immigrant can command. Reader, he terrifies me. I’m no great fan of Ben Wallace; the Afghan resettlement cover-up was a national disgrace. But as Stephen Pollard has written, Yusuf’s branding of him as a ‘traitor’ was a step too far: nasty for the sake of being nasty.

Sunday

Michael Gove

Reform’s Zia Yusuf in conversation with Michael Gove

70 min listen

At the Reform conference in Birmingham, the Spectator's editor Michael Gove sat down with Reform UK's head of their department of government efficiency Zia Yusuf. They discussed Labour's track record in government, Zia's faith and his tech background, why leader Nigel Farage is his political hero and how AI could change Britain.

Saturday

Michael Gove

Rupert Lowe on Reform turmoil, Chagos ‘treason’ and taking the Tory whip

50 min listen

The Spectator’s editor, Michael Gove, and assistant editor, Madeline Grant, interview Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and notorious Westminster provocateur. Earlier this year, Lowe was suspended from the Reform party amid claims of threats towards the party's chairman, Zia Yusuf and a souring relationship with Nigel Farage. Following his political ‘assassination’, he now sits as an independent MP and continues to be one of the most energetic parliamentarians in challenging the Westminster orthodoxy.

Friday

James Heale

Surprise Labour victory as Reform’s fallout continues

14 min listen

Scottish Labour have a new MSP today as Davy Russell won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, taking the seat from the SNP. Labour won with 31.6% of the vote with the SNP second on 29.4%, Reform close behind on 26.1% and the Conservatives a distance fourth with just 6% of the vote; this marks rare good news for both Keir Starmer and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. Both SNP and Reform will be disappointed not to have won, but Reform have been quick to highlight how close they came, considering how new the party is. Plus, there are signs that Reform took votes away from the incumbent SNP, demonstrating again that Reform can appeal to voters across the political spectrum – what does this mean for next year’s Holyrood elections?