New Reform UK chairman Dr David Bull admitted he is “very anxious about the rise in people” covering their faces amid a burqa ban row.
Mr Bull’s predecessor, Zia Yusuf, stepped down from the role last week shortly after saying it was “dumb” for MP Sarah Pochin to call for a burka ban.
It triggered a row about whether the move was party policy.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Mr Bull told Good Morning Britain: “He says he resigned because he was absolutely exhausted and he was working all the hours god sends.
“I think when he was asked the burqa question, I think that was probably the final straw for him.”
Asked if Mr Yusuf would now support a burqa ban, Mr Bull said: “He’s said on a vote he would ban it. It’s a free vote, it is a matter of conscience. It’s not party policy.
“But I live in East London, and I have seen a massive demographic shift. I don’t think in a country like Britain, walking around with your face covered is good in terms of communication and social cohesion.
“I’m very anxious about the rise in people that think it is okay to hide their faces. We had a conversation yesterday about whether that was the burqa, crash helmets, scarves or whatever.”
On Thursday, Mr Yusuf said working for a Reform UK government was not “a good use of my time”; however two days later he appeared to have a change of heart and said he would continue working for the party, albeit in a different role.
Speaking in Port Talbot in Wales, party leader Nigel Farage said Yusuf had “lost his rag” and “plunged us into a difficult place”.
But he added: “It was pretty clear by the next morning he quickly regretted what he had done. I forgave him, I said ‘don’t do it again’ but I forgave him.”
Speaking to the BBC earlier in the day, Yusuf had said he regretted his social media post and that “exhaustion led to a poor decision”. He dismissed the incident as a “storm in a teacup”.
Having served as chair of the party for eleven months, Yusuf will now lead the party’s Doge unit, a team inspired by the US Department of Government Efficiency, set up by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Yusuf said “the thing that frustrated me at the time” was that Pochin had not chosen to ask something that was party policy.
Asked for his views on a ban, he said: “If I was an MP I would think about it very deeply, I think I probably would be in favour of banning face coverings in public writ large, not just the burka.
“I’m very queasy and uneasy about banning things that for example would be unconstitutional in the US but we have a particular situation in the UK.”
He said he did not believe Islam was “a threat to the country” but added that the UK had “a problem with assimilation”.