Ex Reform UK Wales leader charged with bribery

Martin Shipton

The former leader of Reform UK in Wales, Nathan Gill, is facing bribery charges after an investigation by the counter-terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Gill represented Wales in the European Parliament from 2014 until 2020, initially as a UKIP MEP and later as an Independent..

A statement issued by the Metropolitan Police said: “A man has been charged with a number of bribery offences following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing.

“Nathan Gill, 51 (date of birth July 6 1973) of North Wales, was charged via postal requisition with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, under the Criminal Law Act 1977, and with eight counts of bribery, under the Bribery Act, 2010.

“He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 24 February.

“The investigation has been led by detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command and a man was previously interviewed under caution on March 3 2022 in connection with bribery allegations.

“Further enquiries were carried out by officers and after authorisation by the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division, the man was subsequently charged as above.”

Ynys Môn

In August 2013, he came third behind Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth in the National Assembly for Wales by-election for Ynys Môn.

With John Bufton stepping down as MEP in 2014, Gill was selected as UKIP candidate number one for Wales in the European Parliament Election and held on to the seat for the party.

During the UKIP Wales Conference on December 6 2014, Nigel Farage, then-Leader of the UK Independence Party, announced that Gill would be the Leader of the Party in Wales. During the 2015 general election campaign, Gill represented UKIP in the ITV Welsh TV Leaders debate. During the election campaign, Gill denied human involvement in climate change, comments which were strongly criticised by other leaders.

In the 2016 National Assembly election Gill won a seat representing the North Wales region.[He was beaten to the post of leader of the UKIP group in the National Assembly for Wales by former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton. Gill subsequently left the UKIP group in the Assembly to sit as an Independent, citing infighting and distractions. He remained a member of the party and its leader in Wales, until Neil Hamilton was made Wales leader in September 2016.

Tommy Robinson

On December 6 2018, Gill resigned from UKIP, in opposition to the party leader Gerard Batten’s links to far-right activist Tommy Robinson. He joined the new Brexit Party founded by Farage in February 2019.

He was re-elected as an MEP in Wales in the 2019 European Parliament election. He was elected alongside fellow Brexit Party candidate, James Wells. They ceased to be MEPs when the UK left the EU in 2020.

Gill ran in Caerphilly in the 2019 general election, coming 4th with 11.2% of the vote.

On 26 March 2021, Gill was announced as Leader of Reform UK Wales. Gill was a regional list candidate in the 2021 Senedd election for the North Wales electoral region but failed to be elected. He quit Reform UK shortly afterwards.

Gill and his wife Jana have five children. He is a practising member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), and served as a Bishop for the Anglesey ward for six years.