Reform UK have been hit by further chaos after the man brought in by Nigel Farage to professionalise the party quit following a row with their newest MP.
Zia Yusuf, a Muslim businessman, had described new Runcorn MP Sarah Pochin as “dumb” after she challenged Keir Starmer over the legality of women wearing the burqa in the UK during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
After fury broke out about his comment, Mr Yusuf, who has been the target of anger by many activists over several months, announced he has quit.
“I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”
The timing could not be worse with Reform trying to make a breakthrough in Scotland in the Hamilton by-election for the Scottish Parliament.
The row with Ms Pochin has brought back memories of the fracture in Reform earlier this year when MP Rupert Lowe was ousted from the party following a row which began with Mr Yusuf in December.
Mr Lowe is still seeking damages for defamation against Mr Yusuf after he was accused of threatening the chairman.
Since Mr Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, was forced out of the party in March, a number of former members, including ex-deputy leader Ben Habib and former London mayor candidate, Howard Cox, have demanded Mr Farage sack Mr Yusuf.
Patrick Harvie and Ross Greer of the Green Party on the banks of Loch Lomond.Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens Holyrood selection process is not going well, with members publicly blasting each other amid a tetchy leadership contest this summer.
And it led to an angry backlash from both men, who cited that they were disappointed that they had been “singled out” for criticism. Mr Harvie announced that he would be stepping down as co-leader of the party this summer, but wanted to keep his MSP job.
Mr Greer is considering throwing his name in the hat to replace him, insisting that members had spoken to him to encourage him to run. Glasgow campaigner Niall Christie is unlikely to be one of those people as he told the Herald that men in leadership positions should refuse to take the top spot on the Holyrood ballot.‘
“If I were to get the most votes in Glasgow, I would not dare sit top of the list, because we need a woman in Glasgow. We have had a Green MSP for 23 years, and we need a woman to lead that.”
He named two “excellent candidates” in Ellie Gomersall and Iris Duane, who are both trans women.
The Greens recently changed its rules and suspended its trans-inclusive gender-balancing mechanism due to legal concerns after the Supreme Court ruled the words “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex. The system would have barred trans women from taking advantage of this due to legally being men and is to be replaced by “alternative measures to support and encourage women, trans and non-binary candidates to stand”.Party members are currently in the process of selecting candidate for next year’s Holyrood election, with Mr Christie, above left, claiming men should be placing themselves lower on the list voluntarily. He said: “I do think that, regardless of how well I do in this election race, and how well somebody like Patrick or somebody like Ross does, they should be looking at themselves and thinking, ‘Actually, I’ll be better served by having radical women who can represent something different within the party and a fresh start within the party.’
“I would challenge them to do that, because actually, both of them are in seats where we will be wanting to elect more than one MSP this time.” Both Mr Harvie and Mr Greer rejected these suggestions.
The Greens co-leader said: “I’m proud that the Scottish Greens have developed a good record of gender balance in recent years, electing five women and three men at the last Holyrood election, and I have no doubt that the whole party wants to continue that. Candidate selection is for our local members to decide, in every branch, and I hope that everyone respects their right to choose their candidates.
“It’s not clear why anyone would single out two individuals in this way, but I’ll treat our selection as the democratic process it should be. I look forward to setting out the work I’ve done in helping to achieve the greatest political impact our party has ever had, for example the thousands of pounds tenants in Glasgow and across Scotland have saved as a result of the rent freeze, and the long term rent controls to come.”