Nathan Gill
Gill in 2016
Leader of Reform UK Wales
In office
26 March 2021 – 8 May 2021
LeaderRichard Tice
Preceded byMark Reckless (Brexit Party)
Member of the European Parliament
for Wales
In office
1 July 2014 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byJohn Bufton
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Leader of UKIP Wales
In office
6 December 2014 – 26 September 2016
LeaderNigel Farage
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNeil Hamilton
Member of the National Assembly for Wales for North Wales
In office
5 May 2016 – 27 December 2017
Preceded byAled Roberts
Succeeded byMandy Jones
Personal details
Born (1973-07-06) 6 July 1973
Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Reform UK (2019–2021)
Independent (2018–2019)
UKIP (2004–2018)
Conservative (before 2004)
SpouseJana[1]
Children5[2]
Residence(s)North Wales, United Kingdom
EducationColeg Menai
OccupationBusinessman

Nathan Lee Gill (born 6 July 1973) is a British former politician who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to January 2020.[3]

Gill served as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) MEP until his defection on 6 December 2018,[4] and from 2016 to 2017 also an independent Member of the National Assembly for Wales.

Early life and career

Gill was born in England, but his family moved to Wales in the early 1980s. He was educated at Ysgol David Hughes and then Coleg Menai: on leaving the latter he joined a family-owned private company based in the East Riding of Yorkshire.[5]

He founded and managed Burgill Ltd in March 2004, with his mother Elaine.[5][6] Registered in Llangefni, Anglesey, but operating solely in Kingston upon Hull, the company provided domiciliary and home care services mainly to Hull City Council. The company employed 180 staff,[2] chiefly from central Europe (mainly Poland) and the Philippines, to which they optionally provided chargeable "bunkhouse"-style accommodation. In a later interview with the Western Mail after his election, Gill commented:[5]

UKIP has never said it wants to stop all immigration – it wants to limit the numbers. People from overseas were employed because we could not find workers to do the jobs. We had a care home of our own, but mostly our workers were employed on home care contracts we had with Hull City Council and other organisations. The workers were paid more than the minimum wage, but not massively more. The amount we could afford to pay was determined by the amount of money we received from the council. Working in care is quite tough and we had a big turnover of staff.

The company collapsed into administration with debts of £116,000, after its main bankers HSBC withdrew its borrowing facility, owing to the financial crisis of 2007–2008.[5]

Gill then moved back to Wales, where he now lives in Llangefni, Isle of Anglesey, with his American wife Jana,[1][7] and five children.[8] The family are practising members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1]

Political career

In July 2012, he came last in the election of councillor for the Llanbedrgoch electoral division.[9]

In May 2013, he led the UKIP group of candidates in the Anglesey local elections, which included his wife, Jana Gill (standing for Canolbarth Môn),[10] and his sister, Jayne Gill (for Aethwy).[11] Gill himself stood to be elected as councillor for the new electoral division of Seiriol, but he came in eighth place with 7% of the vote.[12] The party did not win any seats on the island's council.[13]

In August 2013, he came third behind Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth in the National Assembly for Wales by-election for Ynys Môn.[14]

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.[3]

During the UKIP Wales Conference on 6 December 2014, Nigel Farage, then-Leader of UK Independence Party, announced that Gill would be the Leader of the Party in Wales.[15] 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.[16]

In the 2016 Assembly election Gill won a seat representing the North Wales region.[17] He was beaten to the post of leader of the UKIP group in the National Assembly for Wales by former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton. Farage described the move as an "unjust act of deep ingratitude" [18] resulting in Hamilton dismissing Farage as simply an "MEP for South East England whose opinions were irrelevant".[19] Gill subsequently left the UKIP group in the assembly to sit as an independent, citing much infighting and distractions.[20] He remained a member of the party and its leader in Wales, until Neil Hamilton was made Wales leader in September 2016.[21] Also in September 2016 Gill's media advisor Alexandra Phillips spoke to The Guardian, stating that she had left UKIP and joined the Conservatives, making comments critical of Hamilton.[22] Staying on as an advisor to Gill, she told BBC Wales that UKIP's foothold in Wales had become "a war zone".[23] Gill resigned as an AM in December 2017.

On 6 December 2018, Gill resigned from UKIP, in opposition to the party leader Gerard Batten's links to far-right activist Tommy Robinson.[4] He joined the new Brexit Party in February 2019.[24][25]

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.[26]

Gill ran in Caerphilly in the 2019 general election, and came 4th with 11.2% of the vote.[27]

On 26 March 2021, Gill was announced as Leader of Reform UK Wales.[28] Gill was a regional list candidate in the 2021 Senedd election for the North Wales electoral region[29] but failed to be elected.[30] He quit Reform UK shortly afterwards.[31]

In March 2023, Nation.Cymru revealed that Gill had met multiple meetings with pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine and Moldova that were organised by men accused of being Kremlin agents.[32]

Personal life

Gill and his wife, Jana have five children.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Williamson, David (25 May 2014). "UKIP tops poll in Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham". North Wales Live. Reach. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Mr Nathan Gill MEP (UKIP) – Members of Parliament in Pwllypant, Caerphilly, Wales". South Wales Argus. Newsquest Media Group. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Election for the European Parliament: Electoral Region of Wales". Regional Returning Officer of Wales. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. 1 2 Nathan Gill (6 December 2018). "I have not left UKIP, UKIP has left me. It is with regret and sadness that today I am resigning from UKIP". @NathanGillMEP. Retrieved 6 December 2018 – via Twitter.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Martin Shipton (4 June 2014). "Ukip MEP admits he employed 'dozens' of migrant workers". Wales Online. Reach. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Companies House records. Company Registered No.05076906; Registered Office: 5 Church Street, Llangefni, Angelesey, LL77 7DU; Date of incorporation: 17 March 2004; Status: In Liquidation
  7. ↑ "Wales Euro Election: Nathan Gill MEP". ITV News. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Nathan Gill". United Kingdom Independence Party. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Declaration of Results of Poll: Electoral Division – Llanbedrgoch". Anglesey County Council. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Election results for Canolbarth Môn: Local Elections May 2013 – Thursday, 2nd May, 2013". Anglesey County Council. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  11. ↑ "Election results for Aethwy: Local Elections May 2013 – Thursday, 2nd May, 2013". Anglesey County Council. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Election results for Seiriol". Anglesey County Council. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Local Elections May 2013 – Thursday, 2nd May, 2013". Anglesey County Council. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "Election results for Isle of Anglesey: National Assembly for Wales Election – Thursday, 1st August, 2013". Anglesey County Council. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  15. ↑ "Nathan Gill announced as Leader of UKIP in Wales at UKIP Wales Autumn Conference". UKIP. 6 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill: Climate change not man made". BBC News. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "Welsh Assembly election 2016 results". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "UKIP's Farage attacks Hamilton's leadership victory". BBC News. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  19. ↑ Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin (10 May 2016). "He's linked to cash for questions and mimicked Hitler in Berlin — now he leads UKIP in the Senedd". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  20. ↑ "UKIP MEP Nathan Gill told to quit as successor is 'ready'". BBC News. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "Nathan Gill leaves UKIP assembly group to sit as independent". BBC News. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  22. ↑ Anushka Asthana, Rowena Mason, The Guardian, 16 September 2016,
  23. ↑ UKIP in Wales a war zone, says Nathan Gill adviser BBC News, 16 September 2016; accessed 26 May 2019
  24. ↑ "Gill set to join Farage's Brexit party". 10 February 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  25. ↑ "Why I am joining The Brexit Party". Facebook. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  26. ↑ "Brexit Party tops European poll in Wales". 27 May 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  27. ↑ "Caerphilly parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  28. ↑ Reform UK Wales [@reformukwales] (26 March 2021). "After almost a quarter of a century of one party rule it's time to reform Wales
    Nathan was a leading figure in the fight to ensure UK laws are created by politicians accountable to us Now it's time to reform those laws
    @NathanGillMEP
    #Senedd21 #Wales2021 #ReformUK"     (Tweet). Retrieved 27 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ "2021 Senedd Election North Wales Region Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  30. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (7 May 2021). "Senedd election 2021 result for North Wales". WalesOnline.
  31. ↑ "Reform UK Wales leader Nathan Gill stopped being a member of the party straight after the Senedd election". Nation.Cymru. 16 March 2022.
  32. ↑ "Welsh politician linked to men accused of being Kremlin agents". Nation.Cymru. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
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