I'm an ex-Reform candidate – there's one reason party is in meltdown

OPINION

So this is what “professionalising” Reform UK looks like? A year ago, Reform UK was a bold, insurgent movement with a clear message, an authentic base, and a patriotic mission. Now, it’s a hollowed-out shell — imploding under the weight of egos, internal warfare, and one man’s obsession with control. Zia Yusuf, the now-ex-chairman, was parachuted in by Nigel Farage to give the party a “polished” look.

A businessman with no political pedigree, Yusuf essentially bought his way to the top table. His job? To sanitise Reform UK, corporatise it, and “make it electable.” Well, congratulations, Nigel. You’ve turned a movement into a mess — a toxic, chaotic, directionless party that eats its own and listens to no one.

But let’s not be mistaken. The blame doesn’t stop with Yusuf. The real architect of this disaster is Farage himself. Farage has been the common denominator in every political implosion he’s touched. UKIP fell apart.

The Brexit Party was shelved. And now, Reform UK — once the only party truly challenging the establishment — is in freefall. Under Farage’s iron grip, it has gone from being a patriotic vehicle for real change to a one-man show, with every dissenting voice crushed and discarded.

Take Sarah Pochin, the newly elected Reform MP who dared to reflect the views of her constituents by asking a simple, clear question in Parliament: should the UK consider banning the burka, as France, Denmark and Belgium have done in the name of public safety?

That question was met not with support, not even neutrality — but with open hostility from Yusuf and silence from Farage. Pochin was hung out to dry by the very party she had just been elected into.

Why? Because the party no longer knows what it stands for. Yusuf publicly slammed Pochin’s question as “dumb.” What is actually dumb is having a party whose leadership disavows its own MPs for raising legitimate concerns.

What’s dumb is pretending to be a populist, pro-British party while chasing progressive approval and flirting with identity politics.

And what’s dumb is thinking that selling out your grassroots will win over the establishment. It won’t. This isn’t professionalisation — it’s betrayal.

The treatment of Rupert Lowe, another principled voice in Reform, is a warning shot to anyone who dares step out of line. Lowe was suspended, smeared, and even reported to the police on laughable grounds.

His real “crime”? Trying to bring accountability and reform to Reform. Farage and Yusuf couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else having a say.

When Farage was recently asked whether he’d welcome Rupert Lowe back into the party, his response was as bitter as it was revealing: “I’d rather eat razor blades.”

That tells you everything you need to know about Farage’s character — petty, vindictive, and utterly incapable of sharing power with anyone who threatens his spotlight.

The result is a party consumed by its own civil war. Chairmen resigning. Whistle-blowers silenced. Patriots sidelined. And through it all, Farage stands at the centre, micromanaging every move and blaming everyone else when it inevitably collapses.

And yet, despite the dysfunction, the polls remain strong. Why? Because the hunger for change is still there. The public is still desperate for a party that will defend Britain, stand up for its culture, protect its borders, and tell the truth.

Reform UK once offered that promise. It doesn’t anymore. The hope now lies not with Farage or his enforcers, but with the people they’ve pushed aside — people like Rupert Lowe and Ben Habib, who actually understand what the movement was about: principle over personality. Vision over vanity. Britain over ego.

Let Reform UK serve as a warning to all political movements: when you elevate style over substance, when you silence the grassroots, and when your leader's ego becomes more important than your mission, collapse is inevitable.

Reform UK had one job: to be the voice of those abandoned by the political class. Instead, it has become just another circus act in Westminster’s theatre of betrayal.

If this is what a “professional” Reform looks like, just imagine the catastrophe it would be in government. Britain deserves better. An alternative to Reform will emerge!