Senior Reform UK figures have publicly divided over comments by the party's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf about a Somali-born Labour politician being tipped as a possible candidate in the forthcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
Former Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries, who joined Reform after leaving the Conservatives, described Yusuf's social-media post as “nasty”, while Reform's London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham said she did not understand the point he was trying to make and stressed that the woman concerned was British.
But Robert Jenrick, Reform's economic spokesman, defended Yusuf against accusations of racism and argued that it was legitimate to ask whether politicians born overseas would put Britain's interests first.
Yusuf questions possible Labour contender
The row concerns Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council and a former child refugee from Somalia who has been tipped as an early frontrunner to contest the Holborn and St Pancras by-election for Labour following Keir Starmer's resignation as an MP.
Labour has not formally selected Abdi-Wali as its candidate.
Referring to reports about her possible candidacy, Yusuf wrote on social media that the frontrunner being put forward to replace Starmer had been born in Somalia, before asking: “Do you understand what's happening?”
The post prompted criticism both outside Reform and from figures within the party.
Dorries calls post ‘nasty’
Nadine Dorries criticised Yusuf's intervention while also praising him personally.
Speaking to Times Radio, she said: “It was a nasty tweet.”
Dorries described Yusuf as a brilliant communicator but said she wished he would close his account on X.
She added that she did not think the post was “very nice” and suggested somebody needed to take his phone away from him.
The intervention is notable because Dorries is one of Reform's most prominent recent recruits from the Conservative Party.
Cunningham: ‘That woman is British’
Laila Cunningham, Reform's candidate for Mayor of London, also questioned Yusuf's remarks.
Cunningham told the Standard that she had read the post several times but did not understand what Yusuf meant.
She said: “Of course, you know, that woman is British. She's the leader of Camden council.”
Cunningham's comments further exposed differences inside Reform over how Yusuf framed Abdi-Wali's background.
Jenrick defends Yusuf
Robert Jenrick took a markedly different position and rejected the accusation that Yusuf's comments were racist.
Asked directly whether the post was racist, Jenrick replied: “No.”
He said he did not know Abdi-Wali and was not casting aspersions on her personally, adding that she might be entirely patriotic and supportive of Britain.
However, Jenrick argued that where somebody seeking election to Parliament was not born in the UK, it was legitimate to ask where their loyalties lay and whether they would put Britain's interests first.
His comments amounted to a defence of what he believed Yusuf was seeking to raise, while Dorries and Cunningham publicly criticised or questioned the original post.
Abdi-Wali came to Britain as a child refugee
Abdi-Wali was born in Somalia and came to Britain with her family as a child refugee in the early 1990s, fleeing civil war and famine.
She later became a Labour councillor in Camden and is now leader of Camden Council.
Her name has emerged in reporting about Labour's possible candidates for Holborn and St Pancras, but reports that she is a frontrunner should not be confused with a formal selection by the party.
Latest dispute exposes differences inside Reform
The controversy comes during a period of unusually intense scrutiny of Reform UK following its annual conference in Birmingham.
The significance of the latest row is not simply Labour's criticism of Yusuf, but the visibly different responses from senior figures within Reform itself.
Dorries has called the post nasty, Cunningham has questioned what Yusuf meant, while Jenrick has defended him and expanded upon the argument he believes Yusuf was making.
Those competing reactions leave Reform facing questions about how the party approaches nationality, immigration and the eligibility of British citizens born overseas to participate in national politics.
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