The short answer of what Reform UK needs to do and should do, is to remove Mr. Yusuf as the party’s Chairman.
My reasons are:
For the first time in my life (age 60+), I actually joined a political party. I joined Reform in April 2024. Instead of being a sofa critic lamenting the state of our country, I realised I had to stand up actually DO something. Anything.
Then in May the General Election was called. Then Farage (belatedly) announced he would lead the Party. I was happy for him to lead the party. Farage had credentials. We all knew his stance on Brexit. We knew him. I went out and worked hard delivering leaflets for two local Reform constituency candidates.
Then after the election in July 2024, Farage announced a complete unknown as the Party’s Chairman. This new ‘leader’ became the Chairman because he made a £200k donation. Nobody knew who this new ‘leader’ of Reform UK was, but we trusted Farage.
Then this new ‘leader’ who we don’t know but are all expected to blindly follow sabotages (in my opinion) firstly Ben Habib and then Rupert Lowe. Well the plain fact is that without Ben, Rupert and Richard Tice, who held the party together and brought it to the point where they could have MPs elected to Parliament then Farage and Mr. Yusuf wouldn’t have had a Reform UK party to ‘lead’ at all!
We all know Mr. Farage’s credentials and history which earned him the right to ‘lead’ Reform UK. But we know absolutely nothing about Mr. Yusuf’s credentials to ‘lead’ the party as Chairman. All we (the public and Reform UK members) know of Mr. Yusuf is that (i) he is a former Goldman Sachs employee (ii) he made a ton of money with his velocity black company and (iii) in June 2024 he made a £200k donation and in July 2024, became the Chairman!
Since then, the only thing we know about Mr. Yusuf as our Chairman ‘leader’ of (what was supposed to be our) Reform UK party is that he sabotaged the Reform UK party with his spiteful decisions and conduct toward Rupert Lowe. The ‘complaint’ he made to the police against Rupert Lowe has, in my view, no credibility whatsoever. And in my view, his Police report was malicious and reveals the content of Mr. Yusuf’s spiteful self-serving character. As for Mr. Yusuf’s so-called ‘independent’ investigation by a KC, well she is entirely misleading and disingenuous in presenting herself as ‘independent’. She is not ‘independent’ when Mr. Yusuf engaged her and paid her for her report with our money which we paid in our membership subscriptions. That KC has in my view, disgraced herself (and the legal profession) for agreeing to take on such a (falsely) purported ‘independent’ investigation.
My point is that Mr. Yusuf has revealed his leadership character. Whilst I am willing to work (for free) to support those who will deliver the policies and reforms needed, I am not willing to work for free for Mr. Yusuf’s career politician ambitions; nor willing to be ‘led’ by, nor follow a so-called ‘leader’ like Mr. Yusuf. He is precisely the sort of career politician Reform UK said (in April 2024) that they want to eliminate from Parliament. Mr. Yusuf has to go. His ‘leadership’ has damaged the party. And whilst Mr. Farage seems to revere him (for whatever reasons which we don’t know), I am not enamoured with this cuckoo pretender who foisted himself into his Chairman ‘leadership’ role off the back of a £200k donation and then sabotaged the best of Reform UK’s talented, committed and honourable MPs like Mr. Lowe (and our potential MPs like Ben Habib).
We need a completely new crop of new MPs who will truly represent its constituents. We don’t need ‘leaders’ who can just buy themselves into a position where they can play the system in the shadows and be ‘anointed’ as a future member of the government cabinet or worse, as a prime minister.
I have not renewed my Reform UK membership. I may rejoin if or when Mr. Yusuf is removed from his Chairmanship. However, whilst there is a technical means to remove Farage’s leadership, there does not appear to be any mechanism whereby Mr. Yusuf can be removed. His dominion over Reform UK appears to be absolute particularly since the recent incorporation of Reform 2025 Limited in February 2025.
I have joined this PAC instead. I truly hope this PAC is the embryo which will evolve into a significant force for reforming our democracy, delivering the policies needed and perhaps delivering the right candidates into Parliament to implement the policies to save our country.