Zia Yusuf is returning to Reform UK after sensationally quitting his role as party chairman.

The 38-year-old said his decision to step down was a “mistake” and the result of “exhaustion”. He told the Sunday Times he had been working for 11 months “without a day off”.

Mr Yusuf will lead the “Doge” unit to root out waste in the 10 councils Reform controls. He will also take part in making policy, raising funds and representing Reform UK in the media. His shock departure followed newly elected Reform MP Sarah Pochin’s challenge to Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions to ban the burka.

On Thursday he announced he was quitting, saying: “I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected is a good use of my time, and hereby resign the office.”

But on Saturday evening he said in a statement: “Over the last 24 hours I have received a huge number of lovely and heartfelt messages from people who have expressed their dismay at my resignation, urging me to reconsider. After 11 months of working as a volunteer to build a political party from scratch, with barely a single day off, my tweet was a decision born of exhaustion.

“I only came into politics out of a sense of duty, to serve the country I love. The country that had been so kind to my parents and presented me with immense opportunity.

“Out of a sense of duty to do whatever I could to reverse decades of decline and make this a country one in which we could be excited for our children to grow up. I came into politics out of belief that Nigel Farage was the man to deliver that.

“Having read the messages, I believe in these things more than ever. I know the mission is too important and I cannot let people down.

“So, I will be continuing my work with Reform, my commitment redoubled. Reform has come a long way since I was appointed chairman, and has moved from ‘startup’ to ‘scaleup’.

“Given this, and that we have now won power at a local level, I will focus on a new role. I will be running the UK DOGE team to fight for taxpayers, as well as working on party policy and representing it in the media.

“I will continue to give all my time to the most important project of my life, getting a Reform Government elected with Nigel as Prime Minister.”

Mr Yusuf’s old role will be split in two. A chairman will “tour the country” while a deputy will be focused on running the organisation. A new head of operations will be appointed. Treasurer Nick Candy will also be helped with fundraising.

Mr Farage is expected to make a major speech in South Wales on Monday. The party has strong hopes of performing well in next year’s elections to the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament.

Mr Farage said: “Monday is above all a statement of intent: Welsh politics, we’re coming to get you.”

It is reported Mr Farage felt he had lost a “political limb” when Mr Yusuf quit in the wake of Ms Pochin’s comments. Mr Yusuf had said he thought it was “dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn’t do”.

Mr Yusuf was at the heart of the party when it scored a series of electoral breakthroughs last month, winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, taking two mayoralties and netting 677 council seats.

It is reported Mr Farage and Mr Yusuf held talks on Friday afternoon.

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Yusuf considers his comments an “error,” saying: “When I pushed that Tweet out it was a coming together of a bit of exhaustion and a feeling that all I got in return for it was abuse. I was doing so many things, in the foreground and in the background.

“Anybody who has been part of a high-growth start-up outside of politics will sympathise and empathise with that. What has happened since then is that I’ve been inundated with messages from Reform members and supporters, who were saying they were devastated and heartbroken and asking me to really reconsider my decision.

“I left my business interests behind, I’ve volunteered full-time, because I love my country and I believe the best way to save it and turn it into a great one is for Nigel to be prime minister. It made me realise that in that moment I was turning my back on that — and I didn’t want to do that.

“I realised I did have an important role to play. I spoke to Nigel and said I don’t mind saying I made an error. It was a function of exhaustion.”

Commenting on Ms Pochin’s comments about banning the burka, he said he first learned about this on social media.

“I don’t mind saying that it frustrated me,” he said. “But these things happen. I’m not an MP, it’s perfectly reasonable for me not to have known about it and Sarah did inform the other MPs.”

He told the Sunday Times that if he was an MP he “would probably vote to ban it” but said that “philosophically I am always a bit uneasy about banning things which, for example, would be unconstitutional in the United States”.

The former entrepreneur who also worked at Goldman Sachs said he did “not think it is one of the most important issues British people face when they go about their day to day lives.”

After Yusuf announced he was returning, Reform leader Nigel Farage said: “I am delighted that Zia Yusuf will head up Reform UK’s DOGE department. He will also assist the party with policy, fundraising and media appearances.

“Zia will continue to be an important part of the team we are building to fight and win the next general election.”

Runcorn and Helsby Reform MP Ms Pochin said: “I am genuinely delighted that my friend and colleague will continue working with Reform UK on behalf of the British people. His attention to detail and superb intellect has been a huge asset to us and I look forward to supporting him in his work to deliver the DOGE initiative.”

Ashfield Reform MP Lee Anderson said: “I spoke with Zia earlier to welcome him back home. There will be some very twitchy snouts at local authorities again as this man and his DOGE team will root out your wasteful spending and wastefulness.”

Reform deputy leader Richard Tice said the return was “great news”.

Labour in Wales is braced for Reform to step up its campaigning in the nation.

A spokesperson said: “It’s like the hokey-cokey with Reform UK. Zia Yusuf is in-out-in.

“How long until he’s out again? These are not serious actions from a party who could seriously govern.

“Reform UK would bring nothing but chaos to Wales.”