Ex-Reform UK Wales leader pleads guilty to bribery linked to pro-Russia statements in EU Parliament
Nathan Gill, 51, admitted eight counts of bribery tied to statements intended to benefit Russia over Ukraine; he denied one conspiracy charge.
A former Reform UK leader in Wales has pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery connected to statements in the European Parliament that prosecutors say were intended to benefit Russia in relation to the Ukraine crisis. Nathan Gill, 51, admitted eight counts of bribery between December 6, 2018, and July 18, 2019, at the Old Bailey on Friday afternoon. He also denied a single charge of conspiracy to commit bribery.
The court heard that Gill made statements in the European Parliament and in written opinion pieces that were “supportive of a particular narrative” that would benefit Russia regarding events in Ukraine in exchange for money. The statements were allegedly part of a scheme under the influence of former Ukrainian politician Oleg Voloshyn, who tasked him with making specific statements in exchange for financial rewards.
The conspiracy charge alleged Gill conspired with Voloshyn and others between January 1, 2018 and February 1, 2020, and that he accepted quantities of money in cash in exchange for improper performance of his duties as a member of the European Parliament. Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said the guilty pleas were “satisfactory” because the bribery charges reflected criminal activity. Gill, who was elected as a UKIP member of the European Parliament in 2014 and later served as the Reform UK leader for Wales, represents a transnational thread of political financing and influence operations that spanned his time in the European Parliament and into the post-Brexit era.
Gill’s arrest preceded a long-running public saga: he was stopped at Manchester Airport on September 13, 2021, under the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. His MEP tenure ended in 2020 when the UK left the European Union, after which he led Reform UK’s Welsh Parliament election campaign in 2021. He is no longer a member of Reform UK.
The case illustrates ongoing concerns about foreign influence in Western political institutions and the mechanisms by which elected officials could be incentivized to advance external narratives.