Reform UK has come under mounting pressure after senior figure Zia Yusuf questioned the British identity of Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee who is Labour’s expected frontrunner for a parliamentary byelection.
Yusuf asked on X, “Do you understand what’s happening?” after highlighting that Abdi-Wali had been born in Somalia. Photograph: James Manning/PA
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Labour has accused Yusuf of “straightforward racism” after he implied that Abdi-Wali was not British while discussing the contest to replace Keir Starmer in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection.
Abdi-Wali, who arrived in the UK as a child refugee from Somalia and now leads Camden council, has emerged as an early favourite to stand for Labour in the London constituency following the former prime minister’s resignation.
Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, wrote on X last week: “The frontrunner being foisted on the people of Holborn by Labour to replace the former prime minister Keir Starmer in our parliament was born in Somalia. Do you understand what’s happening?”
The post has been viewed 8m times and triggered a backlash from several senior Reform UK figures at the party’s conference in Birmingham over the weekend. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, also branded it “straightforward racism” in an interview with Sky News on Sunday.
Asked by presenter Jon Sopel how he interpreted the post, Reynolds said: “Pretty straightforward racism, isn’t it? There’s a potential candidate referenced there; spent decades in this country, huge contribution to her local community, so I think that speaks for itself.”
When Sopel pressed him on whether the comment amounted to “plain racism”, Reynolds answered: “Absolutely.”
Yusuf has faced repeated criticism over inflammatory comments on X in recent months, including from prominent members of Reform UK. Nadine Dorries, the former Conservative minister who defected to Reform UK last year, called the post about Abdi-Wali “nasty”.
“It was a nasty tweet. Zia Yusuf is a brilliant man, and he’s a genius actually, and he’s an incredible communicator. I wish he closed down his Twitter account,” she told Times Radio.
Laila Cunningham, Reform’s candidate for mayor of London and the daughter of Egyptian immigrants, told the Standard: “I don’t know what he meant by that comment. I read it a few times.
“I didn’t understand what he meant by that comment. Of course, you know, that woman is British. She’s the leader of Camden council. I didn’t understand what he meant by that.”
Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
According to Labour, Abdi-Wali came to Camden as a child refugee from Somalia and has spent more than a decade volunteering for and serving as a trustee of local charities. She is also a governor at two schools in the borough.
She was elected as a councillor for the first time in 2022 and became council leader in May. At the time, she said: “Camden has been my home for 35 years. It is the place that gave my family sanctuary, that welcomed us, and that has shaped so much of who I am, what I stand for and what inspired my commitment to public service and to working for the community that welcomed us.”
Labour is expected to name its candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection by Wednesday. The party faces a challenge from the Green party, which is expected to confirm Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, as its candidate.
