Albie Amankona: Don’t ignore the racial element to why Zia Yusuf almost quit Reform

He almost resigned because some never accepted that someone like him belonged there in the first place. After months building the Tories’ challenger to the right, he walked away citing exhaustion. 

Our paths aren’t dissimilar: privately educated scholarship boys, finance professionals, LSE alumni, self-made. We both know exactly what it means to navigate British politics as non-white conservative professionals. I suspect I understand better than most what pushed him to the edge.

Zia impressed from day one. Professional. Serious. Aware of the scale of the task. In difficult interviews — Trevor Phillips, Jo Coburn, Patrick Christys — he was calm, focused, credible. Even if, as I’ve occasionally joked, there is a slight air of Star Wars villain about him.

Serious politics means discipline. Movements aren’t built in pubs over pints and fags. They’re built in offices where caffeine is the most exciting thing on offer. The Right, whether Reform or Conservative, doesn’t beat the Left without people like Yusuf. His near-resignation exposes a problem conservatives still pretend does not exist: racists.

People will accuse me of race baiting, but facts are facts. Yusuf faced open racism from some of the British Right’s own supposed supporters. After Rupert Lowe was suspended, it intensified. Iranian refugee turned YouTuber Mahyar Tousi tweeted:

“Muhammad Ziauddin Yusuf is only one year older than me but he’s managed to single-handedly destroy a growing political party… bought his way into the party… an NPC given an AI update who now thinks he’s God.”

A refugee mocking a British-born man for having a Muslim name. Grimly ironic. The pile-on escalated quickly:

“A Muslim is in it? Lol bye Reform.”
“He and his hidden agenda need to go, probably exercising Taqiyya.”
“MUHAMMAD NEEDS TO GO.”

His X feed remains a sewer: “enemy within,” “Muslim takeover,” “non-ethnic British people shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near British politics.” Whatever criticisms exist of his tenure as Chairman — and mistakes were made — this was something else entirely.

Had this happened to a Labour figure, the script would have been familiar: rolling news coverage, PMQs outrage, emergency panels on Newsnight, broadsheet thinkpieces, hashtags, vigils. Yusuf sits on the Right, so the anti-racism industry looked away.

Modern identity politics operates on one rule. Minorities are welcome, provided they are progressives. Deviate and you’re out. Despite the fact some of the most small-c conservative cohorts in the country are ethnic minorities.

Even Nigel Farage, not known for oversensitivity, publicly acknowledged the abuse:

“Whenever something like this [burqa ban] gets raised — radical Islam, terrorism, anything — Zia gets an absolute shedload of racism on X.”

The problem is not the debate. I have argued myself that face coverings — burqas, niqabs, balaclavas — should be banned in public spaces. Kemi Badenoch is entirely correct in her assessment that employers should be able to ban face coverings. The problem is how quickly the argument gets hijacked by racists who have no interest in debates at all.

The Left seized its chance. Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf, always available for a sermon, announced:

“Zia’s example should act as a lesson to every Person of Colour… Even if you donate hundreds of thousands of pounds to them, the hard-right will never accept you.”

It is not hard to see why some lose patience with the entire circus.

I have lived my own version of this. At GB News, I often made identical arguments to my white colleagues — Ben Leo, Emily Carver — yet the abuse I received was different. Racist, homophobic, persistent. One kind troll called me a “burnt Tom Harwood,” which I have chosen to interpret as talented, attractive and black. Though I doubt that was the intent.

Eventually, you wonder whether it is worth the hassle. There are better-paid jobs where strangers do not racially abuse you for sport. Yusuf likely reached that point. To his credit, he has chosen to stay. When capable professionals walk away from public life because the personal cost is too high, our political economy erodes and democracy suffers.

Reform UK’s new chairman is Dr. David Bull, a former Conservative (like Yusuf), MEP and Doctor turned Broadcaster. Bull is a strong choice. The question is, will he face the same abuse that Yusuf endured? Given the nature of the attacks on Yusuf, which were often steeped in racism rather than policy, I won’t hold my breath.

Yusuf’s ordeal also poses a deeper question for Reform, and for Farage. A very senior broadcaster, who knows Farage, recently put it to me like this:

“I don’t think Farage is a racist. But I do think he’s far too comfortable with racists supporting him.”

It stayed with me, because it felt true, and not just about Reform. It could just as easily be said of some Tories, too.

This is an opportunity for the Conservatives to present themselves as a party where what matters most is not the colour of your skin, your name or faith, but your talents, values and character.

The scandal isn’t just that Yusuf briefly resigned. It’s that some enjoyed watching it happen — and others, who knew it was wrong, did little to stop it.

If the Right is serious about winning, it can’t afford to lose people like him, and it can’t keep pretending racism is a problem for others.