People of the year 2023

It was the year Prince Harry released a bestselling memoir, Nicola Sturgeon resigned, King Charles III was crowned and Taylor Swift became a billionaire. Here we take a look at some of the people who made the headlines in 2023.

January

Bob Dylan is offered a cameo in Coronation Street after admitting that he bingewatches the soap. Dylan says he loves Corrie because it makes him feel "at home". 

Thousands of supporters of Brazil's far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro storm the country's congress, supreme court and presidential palace, in an unsuccessful bid to persuade the military to oust his leftwing successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

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Michelle Obama opens up about her marriage to Barack, admitting that while it has been happy, there was a time, for a decade or so, when she "couldn't stand" him. 

Prince Harry releases his much hyped memoir, "Spare", in which he spills the beans on everything – from his rows with his family to the frostbite he was suffering on his "todger" during his brother William's wedding in 2011. 

The UK Government blocks Scottish legislation that would have made Scotland the first part of the UK to allow transgender people to "self identify" – legally change their gender without the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon describes critics of her self-ID policies as "transphobic", but faces bitter criticism when it emerges that a trans woman who committed two rapes while living as a man has been sent to a women's prison. 

The second man to walk on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin, marries for a fourth time, at the age of 93. New Zealand's embattled prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announces her resignation, saying that after more than five years in the job, she no longer has "enough in the tank to do it justice". 

Susan Jebb, chair of the Food Standards Agency, accuses those who take cake into work of harming their colleagues' health, and likens it to the effects of passive smoking. 

Rishi Sunak seeks to draw a line under weeks of negative coverage by sacking Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative Party. The PM acted after an inquiry found that Zahawi had repeatedly breached the ministerial code by failing to be transparent about his tax affairs.

February

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the Levant strikes southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving millions homeless. 

Collecting a Grammy for "album of the year", Harry Styles declares that "this doesn't happen to people like me very often", triggering a row about "white privilege". Critics point out that he is the 33rd white male winner of the album of the year award, whereas no black woman has won it since 1999. At the subsequent Brit Awards, the singer Sam Smith  steals the show by turning up in an inflatable latex suit. 

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's longest-serving and first female First Minister, announces her resignation. She acknowledges recent "choppy waters", but she says her decision came from a "longer-term assessment". A bitter battle to select her replacement begins. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits London and makes a rapturously received speech to 2,000 MPs and peers in Westminster Hall. 

Puffin Books is criticised for making hundreds of changes to Roald Dahl's children's books, including replacing words such as "fat", "crazy" and "mad", and making the Oompa-Loompas gender neutral. Puffin partially rows back on the changes. 

A highly publicised missing person inquiry reaches a tragic conclusion when Nicola Bulley is found dead in the River Wyre in Lancashire, less than a mile from where she was last seen. 

Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, hail a "new chapter" in UK-EU relations as they unveil the "Windsor Framework" – a new Brexit deal that simplifies the trading arrangements set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is ridiculed for suggesting that Brits should embrace local seasonal foods, such as turnips, to cope with supermarket supply shortages.

March

Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, finds himself in the spotlight after the Telegraph publishes a series of exposés based on more than 100,000 WhatsApp messages sent between him and his colleagues at the height of the Covid pandemic. They'd been handed to the newspaper by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who had helped Hancock write his recently published "Pandemic Diaries". 

The Cabinet Office mandarin Sue Gray, whose damning report into the gatherings held at No. 10 during the pandemic played a major role in Boris Johnson's downfall, causes a storm by leaving the civil service to take up a position as Keir Starmer's chief of staff. 

Gary Lineker is "spoken to" by BBC bosses for criticising the Government's asylum policy on Twitter. Faced with a walkout by Lineker's "Match of the Day" colleagues, they later back down. 

Hospitals in England cancel tens of thousands of appointments and operations as junior doctors stage the biggest walkout in the health service's history – the first of several bouts of industrial action. 

A revolutionary new "skinny jab", Wegovy, is approved for use on the NHS in England for obese people with one other comorbidity. 

An excoriating report by Baroness [Louise] Casey, commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer in 2021, finds that the Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic and needs additional oversight.

Peter Murrell, the husband of Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP's chief executive, resigns. He admits responsibility for misleading the media about the big drop in SNP members; his critics say he still has questions to answer about "missing" SNP funds. Humza Yousaf is later confirmed as Scotland's new First Minister.

April

Donald Trump surrenders to prosecutors in New York after becoming the first US president in history to be charged with a criminal offence. He faces multiple counts related to business fraud. 

As part of an ongoing investigation into the finances of the SNP, police arrest Peter Murrell and search the house he shares with Nicola Sturgeon. Officers also seize a luxury motorhome parked outside the home of Murrell's mother in Dunfermline. 

More than 1,000 tech industry figures, including Elon Musk, sign an open letter urging a six-month moratorium on the training of advanced AI systems, warning that not even their creators can "understand, predict or reliably control" a technology that "can pose profound risks to society and humanity" itself. 

A court rules in favour of Gwyneth Paltrow  in a civil case that pitted the actress-turned-wellness guru against a retired optometrist who claimed that she had careered into him on a ski slope in 2016. "I wish you well," she tells him as she leaves the court. 

President Biden makes a brief visit to Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. He then travels to Dublin. "I'm home," he says. 

Barely a fortnight after his engagement is announced, Rupert Murdoch calls off his wedding to Ann Lesley Smith, a former police chaplain. He had reportedly become "uncomfortable" about her "outspoken evangelical views". 

Dominic Raab resigns as deputy PM and justice secretary after an inquiry concludes that his treatment of civil servants had, in some cases, amounted to bullying. 

Fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and a rival militia prompts the UK and other nations to airlift thousands of their citizens from the war-torn country. 

Tens of millions of mobile phone users across the UK receive a message and a brief, siren-like sound during the first nationwide test of the Government's new public alert system. 

The Bond actress Eva Green wins her legal battle over an unpaid $1m fee for an axed film. In court, it emerged that during rows with its producers, she'd described one of them as "evil" and "pure vomit", and also referred to crew from Hampshire as "peasants" – something she blamed on her Frenchness. 

Richard Sharp resigns as chairman of the BBC after a report finds that he broke the rules on public appointments by failing to disclose the role he played in helping Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan.

May

Around 20 million people in Britain, and millions more around the world, tune in to watch the coronation of Charles III and his wife Camilla. As head of the Privy Council, Penny Mordaunt plays a prominent role and wins admiration for her striking outfit and for holding up an 8lb sword for the best part of an hour. 

Robert De Niro reveals that he has had his seventh child, at the age of 79. The baby's mother is believed to be his girlfriend of several years, martial arts instructor Tiffany Chen. 

A jury in New York clears Ed Sheeran of plagiarising parts of the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On" in his 2014 song Thinking Out Loud. The British singer-songwriter had pledged to leave the music industry if the case went against him. 

Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, is unexpectedly arrested in Islamabad on corruption charges, leading to widespread protests (he is later jailed). 

The adventurer Bear Grylls, once a proud vegan, reveals that he has renounced vegetables and embraced "red meat and organs". 

Thousands of people descend on Liverpool as it hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, which is won by the Swedish singer Loreen. 

Phillip Schofield abruptly leaves ITV's "This Morning" after weeks of rumours about a rift with co-presenter Holly Willoughby over his affair with a younger male colleague. 

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan extends his 20-year grip on power, beating his rival in a second-round election run-off.

June

Thousands of people are evacuated from their homes in southern Ukraine following the collapse of the vast Nova Kakhovka dam, in Russian-occupied territory northeast of the city of Kherson. Moscow is accused of causing the flood to obstruct the start of Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive. 

Boris Johnson resigns as an MP, triggering a renewed bout of Tory infighting, after being shown a draft version of a report by the Commons Privileges Committee that accuses him of misleading Parliament over "Partygate". 

Another factor in Johnson's departure was the release of his resignation honours list. Although it contained gongs for many of his allies, including the 29-year-old political aide Charlotte Owen, it omitted some of those to whom he had promised peerages, including Nadine Dorries. She also announces her immediate resignation, but stays for another eight weeks. 

The Titan submersible goes missing while diving down to the wreck of the Titanic, triggering an urgent search mission. The discovery of debris subsequently confirms that the craft suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing the five people on board. 

At the age of 83, Al Pacino celebrates the birth of his fourth child. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin marches on Moscow at the head of his Wagner mercenary group. The advance comes to within 120 miles of the capital, but Prigozhin calls off the mutiny after striking a deal with Vladimir Putin that grants him and his men amnesty for the insurrection and a safe haven in Belarus. 

At the age of 76, Elton John becomes the most-watched Glastonbury headliner in the history of the festival, drawing a crowd of 120,000.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree to take each other on in a cage fight. There are rumours that the clash of the tech titans will take place in Rome, but it never materialises. 

A 17-yearold boy, Nahel Merzouk, is shot dead by police during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb, triggering the worst street violence in France since 2005.

July

Thames Water scrambles to shore up its financial position after the surprise departure of chief executive Sarah Bentley causes the price of its bonds to plummet. The turmoil leads to renewed scrutiny of the water industry, already under severe political pressure over leaks and sewage spills. 

Nigel Farage becomes embroiled in a "debanking" row with NatWest after its elite private division, Coutts, jettisons him as a client. NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose wrongly informs a BBC journalist that Farage was dropped for purely commercial reasons, implying he did not have enough money in his account. It turns out that Farage had been deemed to pose a "reputational risk", and she is forced to resign. 

President Zelenskyy condemns Nato leaders for failing to offer Ukraine a clear timeline to membership of the defence alliance, calling it "absurd".

Huw Edwards's wife Vicky Flind identifies him as the BBC presenter accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour, ending fevered speculation on social media about the person's identity. Edwards is suspended, but a BBC inquiry finds that nothing he did was illegal.

The Tories suffer two damaging by-election losses, but narrowly hold on to Boris Johnson's former constituency of Uxbridge, in west London, thanks largely to local disquiet about Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan's planned extension of London's ultra low emission zone. Thousands of people have to be evacuated from the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu as a result of catastrophic wildfires. 

Elon Musk renames Twitter as X, saying he wants it to become an "everything app". By  October, the firm is worth half what he paid for it. 

After more than 17 years of wrongful imprisonment, the Court of Appeal overturns Andrew Malkinson's rape conviction. 

England cricketer Stuart Broad enjoys a fairytale ending to his Test career, smashing his final ball for six, and claiming the winning wicket against Australia with his last delivery.

August

Greenpeace activists climb onto the roof of Rishi Sunak's North Yorkshire home, draping its walls in black cloth and unfurling a banner reading "No New Oil". 

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, a former TV presenter, announce their separation. 

A trio of backup singers file a lawsuit against Lizzo, alleging that they have been bullied, sexually harassed and even fat-shamed by the famously "body positive" pop star. 

A major data breach enables dissident republicans to obtain reams of sensitive information about the staff of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

A government drive to show that it's getting to grips with illegal Channel crossings turns into a PR disaster. During what No. 10 staff had dubbed "small boats week", 755 migrants arrive on a single day, six others die when their packed dinghy sinks; and the Bibby Stockholm, a barge in Dorset on which asylum seekers have just been housed, has to be evacuated following the discovery of legionella bacteria. 

Wildfires hit Hawaii, killing at least 100 people and destroying more than 2,000 buildings.

An 18th century former farmhouse fondly known as the "wonkiest pub in Britain" – The Crooked House in South Staffordshire – burns down in suspicious circumstances. Several people have been arrested in connection with the blaze; they remain on police bail.

The former nurse Lucy Letby is jailed for life after being found guilty of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more while working as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital. 

The director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer, resigns after it emerges that as many as 2,000 objects have gone missing from the collection over the past decade.

England's Lionesses fly home from Australia after their historic appearance in the World Cup final ends in a 1-0 defeat to Spain. Spain's victory is overshadowed by a row over an unwanted kiss planted on Jenni Hermoso, the Spanish striker, by Luis Rubiales, the president of the country's football association.

Two months after Wagner's mutiny, Yevgeny Prigozhin's private jet crashes 217 miles northwest of Moscow, killing him and everyone else on board. The Kremlin denies any involvement. 

Donald Trump becomes the first former president to pose for a mugshot (when he surrenders himself for processing at Fulton County Jail in Georgia. It follows his indictment by a grand jury on charges of running a criminal racket to overturn the state's 2020 election.

September

Days before the start of the autumn term, the Government orders the shutdown or partial closure of more than 100 schools, because of the potential threat posed by crumbling concrete. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan apologises after a live mic catches her remarking, after an interview, that she had been given no credit for doing a "f**king good job" in tackling the crisis, while others sat "on their arses". 

Grant Shapps takes his fifth Cabinet job in less than a year, replacing Ben Wallace as defence secretary. 

Birmingham City Council – the largest local authority in Europe – declares itself effectively bankrupt. 

There is uproar in Westminster when The Sunday Times reveals that a parliamentary researcher was arrested earlier in the year on suspicion of spying for Beijing. 

A deadly earthquake strikes Morocco, reducing rural villages in the High Atlas Mountains to rubble and killing almost 3,000 people. 

The first of multiple sexual abuse allegations are levelled against the comedian and actor Russell Brand. They date from the time he worked for the BBC and Channel 4, both of which are accused of having turned a blind eye to his behaviour.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un travels in his armoured train to Russia's far east, where he meets Vladimir Putin and pledges his support for the Russian president's "sacred war" against the West. 

Chioma Nnadi is named as the new editor of British  Vogue, replacing Edward Enninful and becoming the first black woman to edit the fashion bible. 

Heavy rain causes two dams to burst in eastern Libya, sending a torrent of water through the coastal town of Derna. Entire neighbourhoods are sweptaway and up to 12,000 people are killed. 

Rishi Sunak welcomes a regulatory go-ahead for the UK's largest untapped oil field, Rosebank, off the Shetland Islands. 

Rupert Murdoch declares that, at the age of 92, he is stepping back from chairing his media empire, and relinquishing power to his elder son Lachlan. 

To the dismay of the nation, the famous tree at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall is felled in an act of vandalism.

October

Rishi Sunak puts on a bullish display at the Tory party conference, declaring himself the change candidate and scrapping the second leg of HS2. 

"This vile enemy wanted war and it will get war," declares Israel's PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, days after Hamas militants break out of the Gaza Strip and attack several kibbutzim and the Supernova music festival, killing some 1,200 people, the vast majority of them civilians. Tens of thousands of Israeli troops start massing on the border as an aerial bombardment of Gaza gets under way. A ground invasion begins about two weeks later.

Michael Caine announces that he's retiring from acting at the age of 90. 

Hannah Ingram-Moore comes under fire after revealing that her family had kept £800,000 in profits from the sale of a book written by her late father, Captain Sir Tom Moore. 

Poland's rightwing, nationalist government suffers an election defeat, paving the way for a fresh cabinet formed by Donald Tusk, the former president of the European Council. 

Taylor Swift is declared to be a dollar billionaire, thanks in part to the success of her Eras world tour. Meanwhile, the bestselling female recording artist of all time, Madonna, launches her postponed Celebration tour in London. 

Labour wins by-elections in two formerly safe Tory seats: Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire. 

Boris Johnson's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, provides damning testimony to the Covid Inquiry, describing the Cabinet Office as a "dumpster fire" and standing by his description of ministers as useless "f**kpigs".

Rishi Sunak hosts a summit at Bletchley Park aimed at discussing the state of "frontier AI", and enjoys a livestreamed chat with Elon Musk. 

The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is embarrassed when the Financial Times reveals that chunks of her new book have been lifted, unacknowledged, from Wikipedia, an obituary in The Guardian, and the writing of a Labour frontbench colleague.

November

In her explosive new book, "The Plot", Nadine Dorries alleges that the Conservative Party has been controlled for 20 years by a shadowy clique known as "the movement", led by a figure so dangerous she refers to him only as "Dr No". 

Ukraine's commander-in-chief, General Zaluzhny, warns that his country's counteroffensive against Russia is heading into a stalemate. 

The 31-year-old former billionaire once known as the "Crypto King", Sam BankmanFried, is convicted of fraud and money laundering. 

The Met Police commissioner, Mark Rowley, declines to ban a pro-Palestinian march in London scheduled to take place on Armistice Day. 

The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, writes an unauthorised article about what she calls "hate marches", in which she accuses the police of bias. She is sacked as a result. In a scathing resignation letter, she accuses the PM of betrayal, saying that he had repeatedly failed to deliver key policies. Seven years after leaving Westminster, David Cameron makes a shock comeback to the Cabinet, taking on the role of Foreign Secretary. 

The self-styled "anarcho-capitalist" Javier Milei wins a landslide victory in Argentina's presidential election. Another outspoken populist – the hard-right leader Geert Wilders – pulls off a surprise election victory in the Netherlands. 

Keir Starmer suffers his worst-ever Commons revolt when more than a quarter of Labour MPs, including ten frontbenchers, defy the whip by backing an SNP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

The Irish novelist Paul Lynch wins the Booker Prize for his fifth novel, "Prophet Song".

December

Time magazine names Taylor Swift as its 2023 Person of the Year. 

Sultan Al Jaber, head of the UAE's state oil company, presides over the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai. 

The Home Secretary, James Cleverly, flies to Rwanda to sign a new asylum-seeker treaty. Robert Jenrick quits as immigration minister, saying that the new Rwanda plan won't work.

The Dutch version of Omid Scobie's latest book about the royal family identifies King Charles and the Princess of Wales as the two royals who supposedly expressed "concern" about the likely skin colour of the future Prince Archie. Scobie blames a "translation error"; others suspect that the "accident" was a publicity stunt.