The ‘British Muslim patriot’ on a mission to get Farage into No. 10

Few people had heard of Zia Yusuf before he spoke at Reform’s final campaign rally in Birmingham. But after a stirring speech to 4,000 supporters, he became one of the election’s overnight stars. ‘This boy’s got real talent,’ admitted Nigel Farage afterwards. He is now emerging as one of the more intriguing figures in the landscape of the right: a self-described ‘British Muslim patriot’, a 37-year-old multimillionaire, who says his mission in politics is to take Farage to No. 10.

When we meet at The Spectator office (his £100,000 Range Rover parked outside), Yusuf says that a Reform UK government is quite conceivable. ‘We need five million votes extra from here,’ he says. ‘We think there’s around ten million in play for us.’ It’s unlikely – it would need roughly half of Labour and Tory voters to consider switching next time.