DAN HODGES: Farage's authority over his party is under threat - from a man who should be his great champion

In the mid-1980s, Derek Hatton, the sharp-suited Trotskyite leader of Liverpool's Militant Tendency, rose to national prominence. The Merseyside council he administered with an iron fist had become a symbol of Labour's ideological lunacy.Under his slogan 'Better to break the law than break the poor', he effectively bankrupted the once-great city.But there was one odd thing about Hatton and his despotic rule - he wasn't actually in charge of Liverpool City Council, but was merely its deputy leader. John Hamilton, a mild-mannered former Quaker and schoolteacher, formally ran the authority, but found himself brutally shunted aside by both Hatton and history.I've been reminded of Hatton and his anarchic appropriation of power as I've seen the mayhem descending on Reform. On Monday, Tim Montgomerie, a former Downing Street adviser to Boris Johnson and defector to the party, broke cover in the media to criticise Zia Yusuf, Reform's self-styled 'Shadow Home Secretary'.According to Montgomerie, Yusuf is 'not a team player'. When Montgomerie had helped broker the defection of Robert Jenrick to Reform, Yusuf had refused to talk to him for three months. Yusuf was prone to acting 'like a child', he charged.Though punchy, Montgomerie was simply articulating what many senior members of Reform also believe. In any case, he has no formal leadership role and is entitled to express his views as freely as any other ordinary party member.But Yusuf does not tolerate dissent. So before the full interview was broadcast, Montgomerie was suspended. Reform was supposed to be shifting the media's focus to its welfare policy and away from its internal feuding and continuing questions about Nigel Farage's undeclared £5million gift from Thailand-based crypto-entrepreneur Christopher Harborne. Yet in a predictable turn of events, in suspending Montgomerie it has found itself condemned across the political spectrum for its 'snowflake-like' attitude to criticism. Zia Yusuf is now starting to reshape Reform in his own image. And Farage, the putative party leader, seems unwilling or unable to do anything about it In the mid-1980s, Derek Hatton, the sharp-suited Trotskyite leader of Liverpool's Militant Tendency, rose to national prominenceFor his part, the political commentator, who created the Conservative Home website and co-founded the Centre for Social Justice think-tank, refused to be silenced - and began a tour of broadcast studios in which he doubled down on his views. 'I am going to fight this suspension,' he declared. 'I want to stay in Reform. I didn't leave the Conservative Party lightly.'Opinion in Reform is split. Some insiders support his suspension, a number are opposed. But one voice has been conspicuously silent: That of Nigel Farage.The official line from Reform is that he has taken a holiday following the Clacton by-election - although the timing is bizarre, given that he vanished on election night before the result was officially declared, and it was only a few days ago that Reform was lambasting Andy Burnham for taking his own summer break.Regardless, one thing is becoming clear. Zia Yusuf is now starting to reshape Reform in his own image. And Farage, the putative party leader, seems unwilling or unable to do anything about it. The evidence of Yusuf's growing power is everywhere. Last week, it was announced that a man called Jaymey McIvor had been elevated to a senior role managing the party's election candidates. This raised eyebrows because McIvor had been expelled from the Tory party for allegedly sending inappropriate photos of his 'private parts' to a colleague, which he denies. But according to Reform insiders, McIvor, a former Virgin air steward, is a close ally of Yusuf's. 'Jaymey is very pro-Zia,' one person told me. 'But giving him the plum job of selecting parliamentary candidates is odd.'Then there is Yusuf's fanatical hostility to Reform opponents outside and inside the party. Last week he was publicly censured by Farage for calling former Tory defence secretary and Scots Guards officer Ben Wallace a 'traitor' for his role in secretly bringing thousands of Afghans to Britain during the last Tory government.On Tuesday, Yusuf tweeted: 'Have you noticed the people with 'Right Honourable' in their titles are among the most dishonourable people in the country?' This was widely perceived to be a thinly veiled dig at Jenrick, with whom he has a feud.This antipathy is in turn having a direct influence over Reform's overall political strategy. According to another Reform insider: 'During the past couple of months there has been some discussion inside the party about whether we should try to explore some sort of deal with Kemi Badenoch and the Tories if that's what it takes to stop Labour.' Several Reform leaders back the idea. But Yusuf is passionately opposed. 'He hates the Tories more than he hates Labour,' the source added.And then there is Yusuf's growing grip on Reform's communications strategy. This summer it began to adopt a more vicious and aggressive tone towards its rivals. This sits at odds with Farage's previously upbeat, optimistic, happy-go-lucky brand. According to a third Reform source, it is again primarily down to Yusuf. 'He's out of control. He just does his own thing. He doesn't consult anyone,' they insisted.As a result, Farage is slowly but surely losing control himself. In the wake of the outrage at Yusuf's Wallace smear, Farage pledged to 'give him a ticking-off'. But if he did, it had zero impact. The offending tweets remained in place. And there was no apology or contrition from 39-year-old Yusuf, a former investment banker who sold his 'luxury concierge' company, Velocity Black, for £233million in 2023.Over the weekend it was reported that Farage was coming close to dumping his increasingly power-crazed de facto deputy. But some Reform insiders are openly questioning whether he has the power to do so. 'The problem is Zia knows where all the bodies are buried,' one told me, 'and because of that, Nigel is very, very reluctant to move against him.'That reluctance may be justified - however the political reality is that Farage has no choice. His authority over his party is indeed being challenged. Not by relatively minor figures like Montgomerie, but from one of his most senior spokesmen.The chaos inside Reform is unsustainable. Zia Yusuf is running amok, putting in place his own leadership team, establishing an independent media 'grid' to deal with the Press and pursuing his own political strategy. Reform is supposed to look like a government in waiting. Instead it looks like a rabble.So Farage will have to act quickly because once a political underling gets a taste for power, they will not easily relinquish it. As poor John Hamilton found out in Liverpool all those years ago.