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Zia Yusuf
British businessman and politician (born 1986) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Muhammad Ziauddin Yusuf (/ˈziːə ˈjuːsəf/; born 1986) is a British businessman and political campaigner who has served as the head of Reform UK Department of Government Efficiency since June 2025.[1] He previously served as Chairman of Reform UK from July 2024 until his resignation in June 2025.[2][3] He was a member of the Conservative Party until August 2024.[4]
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Early life
Yusuf was born in 1986 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.[5][6][7][8] His parents migrated from Sri Lanka to the UK in the 1980s and both worked for the NHS.[9] His father is a doctor and his mother is a nurse.[10]
Yusuf was educated at Hampton School in southwest London, where he won a 50% scholarship and met his future business partner, Alex Macdonald.[11][12] Yusuf received a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics in 2009.[13][14]
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Business career
Yusuf worked at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs after leaving university, specialising in European automotive and defence companies.[15] He rose to executive director[11] at Goldman Sachs. In 2014, Yusuf and Macdonald founded a luxury concierge company, Velocity Black, of which Yusuf was the CEO.[16][11]
In 2023, Yusuf and Macdonald sold Velocity Black to Capital One for £233 million, and Yusuf made an estimated £31 million.[12][9][7] In June 2025 a BBC report detailed allegations against Yusuf focusing on his conduct at Velocity Black. The report cited "unpredictable" behaviour, employee fear, and frequent dismissals. Another claim in the report said that Yusuf approved false financial figures that inflated Velocity Black's growth. Yusuf denied the financial allegations, blaming the finance team and asserting the figures were accurate.[17]
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Political career
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Yusuf first met Nigel Farage at a cocktail party hosted by the financier and UKIP treasurer Stuart Wheeler.[18] After selling his business in 2023, he subsequently turned to politics and became the largest donor to Reform UK in the run-up to the 2024 general election.[16][19]
In June 2024, Yusuf spoke at a Reform UK party conference, at the NEC in Birmingham. On 11 July 2024, he succeeded Richard Tice as Chairman of Reform UK.[16] Despite a major donation to Reform UK in June 2024 and his appointment as party chair in July, Yusuf was a paid-up member of the Conservative Party, until August 2024. Yusuf had his membership revoked by the party after it had been publicly disclosed by The Guardian.[4]
On 7 March 2025, it was reported that Reform MP Rupert Lowe was suspended from the party due to alleged physical threats of violence against Yusuf on "at least two occasions". Lowe said the allegations were "untrue and false".[20] Furthermore, Lowe alleges that Yusuf may have forced him out of the party for "talking too much about 'mass deportations'".[21]
On 5 June 2025, Yusuf resigned his position as Chairman of Reform UK explaining that: "I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office."[22] It came hours after Reform MP Sarah Pochin called for a burqa ban, which led to a statement by the Reform leadership that it was not party policy.[23][24] Yusuf said he had not been informed of Pochin's plans to call for a ban and said it was "dumb" for her to call for a measure which went against Reform policy.[23][25]
Two days later on 7 June 2025, Yusuf reversed his resignation following discussions with party leader Nigel Farage. He acknowledged that stepping down had been a hasty decision made in frustration. Upon his return, Yusuf took on a newly defined executive position, which included responsibilities over policy development, fundraising, media strategy, and leading the party's Department of Government Efficiency – apparently taking inspiration from the initiative of the same name set up by Elon Musk in the US.[26] In a subsequent interview with The Sunday Times Yusuf said his intervention on Pochin's question had been an "error" and that if he were a Reform MP he would "probably" vote in favour of banning the burqa and other face coverings in public spaces.[27]
According to Nigel Farage, the reason Yusuf had initially quit was due to racist abuse he had received online. In an interview with Times Radio, Farage said: "I think it comes from the very hard extreme right. I have little doubt about that. They're Indian bots. Someone's paying for it to happen. I've no idea who it is."[28]
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Political beliefs
As a Reform UK spokesman, Yusuf has expressed support for British values which he terms as rule of law and cultural cohesion.[29] He has described himself as formerly being on the political left during his time at the London School of Economics prior to joining the Conservative Party and later Reform. At the time he opposed the Iraq War and supported the election of Barack Obama.[30][31] More recently, Yusuf has expressed support for the re-election of Donald Trump and attended the Second inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington DC in 2025.[32]
Yusuf has argued for the United Kingdom to pursue stricter immigration policies, describing current immigration levels as “unsustainable" for public services. Although of a Muslim background, he has spoken out against the rise of Muslim extremism in Britain and supported Farage's statement that some Muslims “loathe” British values. In an interview organised by The Spectator Yusuf declared that he supports a ban on wearing the burqa and other face coverings in public spaces citing security concerns and cultural integration.[33][34][35][better source needed]
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Personal life
Yusuf describes himself as a "British Muslim patriot",[36][7] and observes practices such as fasting during Ramadan.[37] In a 2025 interview with The Financial Times Yusuf said he considers his religious beliefs to be a private matter.[38]
References
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