As we recently reported, Nigel Farage was forced to tell the media that he would discipline Zia Yusuf over controversial comments he made. Now, the Daily Mail is reporting that the writing may be on the wall for him:
NEW: Nigel Farage has reportedly “fallen out of love” with Zia Yusuf
A source told the Daily Mail: “I think his days are numbered”
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) August 16, 2026
Yusuf himself, meanwhile, is claiming he isn’t going anywhere.
Don’t Zia the reaper
Yusuf recently got into hot water for labelling an ex-Tory defence minister a ‘traitor’. The comments proved to be particularly controversial because they came mere weeks after Yusuf and Reform made the case that no one was allowed to be mean to them, because doing so might put them in danger. And all this prompted the following from Farage:
EXCL: Nigel Farage slaps down Zia Yusuf for branding Ben Wallace a “traitor”.
The Reform leader tells @TheSun: "That’s too strong a word. I shall give him a ticking off.
“I’ll speak to him today. But yeah, it’s over the top.” https://t.co/XfJqBZFX3H
— Jack Elsom (@JackElsom) August 11, 2026
Given that treason is traditionally linked to the death penalty, it’s understandable why Farage would want to distance himself from the comments. Yusuf’s posts stayed up, however, suggesting he didn’t respond positively to Farage’s dressing down.
In the latest on all this, the Daily Mail has reported:
allies are also urging Mr Farage to ‘reboot’ the party by dismissing his home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf, who annoyed Mr Farage last week by describing Tory former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as ‘a traitor to Britain’ for allowing into the UK thousands of Afghans who had served the UK during the war in their country.
A source said: ‘Nigel has fallen out of love with Zia, who is out of control. I think his days are numbered. Rupert [Lowe, leader of the breakaway Right-wing Restore party] only left because Zia went for him so hard over some HR nonsense. If Zia goes, Rupert could be persuaded back.’
At this point, it’s increasingly clear that there are opposing factions within Reform UK. What’s less clear is which faction has the upper hand, or which group Farage is most likely to listen to. For now, anyway, Yusuf remains in position.
Zia Yusuf — the response
Zia Yusuf certainly isn’t someone who backs down from a fight. Responding to the report from the Mail, he said the following:
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, of course, is the other consideration that needs to be made. Different media outlets have varying opinions on Farage and Reform, and clearly they would like to influence the party’s behaviour (much like how they traditionally influenced Labour and the Tories).
Is this latest story an example of the media making news rather than reporting it? We can’t say. But we can say Farage promised to put Yusuf back in his box a week ago, and yet Yusuf has remained stubbornly outside of his box ever since.
Yusuf also said the following:
Thank you Mark! https://t.co/zYPimp4Xdd
— Zia Yusuf (@ZiaYusufUK) August 16, 2026
So, we have an alleged insider saying Reform can’t work with Restore if Yusuf is around; we also have Yusuf confirming a Reform-Conservative alliance is impossible with Zia in position. What’s clear, then, is that if a right-wing electoral pact becomes necessary, Yusuf will have to go. And if current polling is any indicator, a pact will very possibly be necessary:
NEW | Labour lead by 2pts
Lab: 24% ( +2 )
Ref: 22% ( -1 )
Con: 21% ( +2 )
Grn: 12% ( -1 )
Lib: 11% ( -1 )
— Seats —
SNP: 49
Plaid: 12
Poll: YouGov, 9-10 Aug (+/- vs 4 Aug) pic.twitter.com/sDqVqXRnnR
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) August 11, 2026
Not needed
When Reform were riding high in the polls, the very-visible Zia Yusuf could have argued he was an integral part of that. It might not have been true, but it was certainly the case that the party enjoyed election-winning polling at the same time that he was incredibly prominent.
Now that Reform’s polling has dropped, Yusuf can no longer make the argument that he’s indispensable. At the same time, the fact that he’s standing in the way of two different electoral pacts shows he’s not just dispensable; he’s actually an obstacle.
We don’t know how things will pan out for Yusuf, but the more belligerent he gets, the more it feels like his days are numbered.
Featured image via Guy Bell
By Willem Moore
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