Former North Wales Assembly Member jailed for 10 years for accepting pro-Russian bribes
Former North Wales Senedd Member Nathan Gill has been sentenced to ten years and six months in prison after admitting eight counts of bribery.
Gill, 52, from Anglesey, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 26 September to eight offences under the Bribery Act 2010. He was sentenced today, 21 November.
Justice Cheema Grubb told him, “You abused a position of significant authority and trust with your crimes spanning eight months, motivated by financial and political gain.”
“The offending was sophisticated. You accepted payments from foreign nationals, made statements on important international matters at their behest, utilised scripted material presented as your own, and orchestrated the involvement of other MEPs.
“Your conduct fundamentally compromised the integrity of a supranational legislative body, particularly in its dealings with Russia, a persistent hostile state during a period of an association agreement between the EU and Ukraine reached in 2017.
“The revelation of your actions has a broad and deleterious effect on public confidence and trust in democratic institutions of importance to many dozens of millions of people.”
Gill was a familiar figure in North Wales politics. He was elected as a UKIP Assembly Member in 2016, representing the North Wales region. He later joined the Brexit Party and was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. In 2021 he was announced as the Reform Party’s Welsh leader ahead of the Senedd election, but was not elected and left the party shortly afterwards.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said, “This sentencing should send a clear message that any efforts by foreign powers to bribe people in the UK in elected and influential positions will not be tolerated. It also shows that there are grave and severe consequences for anyone here who engages with that sort of activity.
“Instead of looking after the interests of his constituents and the interests of the UK, Gill was more concerned about making money for himself by peddling views and opinions that were in support of the Russian state’s activities in Ukraine, which, as demonstrated by the ongoing war in Ukraine, we have seen to be quite appalling.
“I’d like to thank our European partners, as well as colleagues in the US and FBI for their support in this investigation. The strength of the evidence and case we put together gave Gill little choice other than to plead guilty. It should also send a clear message that we will work closely together with our partners to disrupt this kind of activity and protect our collective democratic values and our national security.”
Police began investigating Gill after he was stopped at Manchester Airport on 13 September 2021 while due to fly to Moscow. Officers seized his mobile phone, and Counter Terrorism detectives carried out a search of his Anglesey home where further electronic items and cash in euros and US dollars were found.
Detectives identified messages between Gill and Ukrainian politician Oleg Voloshyn. According to police evidence, messages referred to “Xmas gifts” or “postcards” as coded language before later becoming explicit, with discussions about “5k” payments.
Investigators found eight occasions between December 2018 and July 2019 in which Gill agreed to make statements or encourage other MEPs to make statements that supported the narratives provided by Voloshyn, in exchange for money.
Officers said some of Gill’s statements to the media and the European Parliament were almost verbatim versions of scripts he was sent. The FBI provided evidence confirming the messages were sent by Voloshyn.
Gill was interviewed under caution in March 2022 and made no comment. After further enquiries, charges were issued in January 2025. He pleaded guilty to eight bribery counts. A further charge of conspiracy to commit bribery lies on file.
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