January 2023

 

• 1 January – The Baroness Stedman-Scott steps down from the post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
• 5 January – The UK government confirms it will not go ahead with a plan to privatise Channel 4.
• 9 January – A new scheme to support businesses with the cost of energy bills is outlined in the House of Commons to replace existing support due to end in March. The scheme will replace capped energy bills with a wholesale discount on gas and electricity, and only apply when energy bills are high. Industries such as glass, ceramics and steel, which use a greater amount of energy, will get a larger discount than others.
• 10 January – The UK government published the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill 2023, designed to require public sector organisations to provide a minimum service when their unions vote to strike.
• 11 January – Andrew Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire, is suspended from the Conservative Party for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines after posting a tweet comparing them to The Holocaust.
• 12 January – Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon hold talks at a hotel in Inverness.
• 13 January – Former GB News presenter Mercy Muroki has been appointed by the UK government to advise Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Women and Equalities, on gender policy.
• 16 January –
  • The UK government announces it will block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill amid concerns about its impact on UK-wide equality law.
  • MPs vote 309–249 in favour of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which now moves to the committee stage.
• 19 January – Prime Minister Sunak apologises for taking his seat belt off in a moving car to film a social media clip. Lancashire Police later say they are "looking into" the incident. He is issued with a fixed-penalty notice the following day.
• 22 January – Labour's chairwoman, Anneliese Dodds writes to Daniel Greenberg, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, requesting "an urgent investigation" into claims that Richard Sharp, the Chairman of the BBC, helped former Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure a loan guarantee weeks before Johnson recommended him for the BBC chairmanship.
• 23 January –
  • William Shawcross, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, is to hold a review into the process of appointing Chairman of the BBC Richard Sharp following claims he helped then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure a loan guarantee shortly before his appointment.
  • Prime Minister Sunak orders his Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests to investigate a disclosure that Conservative Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi paid a £5m penalty to HM Revenue and Customs for unpaid taxes during his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• 26 January – GB News have hired Conservative MP and former Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg as a presenter.
• 28 January – Eric Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, says that Nadine Dorries, the former Secretary of State for Culture, has breached the ministerial code by not consulting the watchdog about her appointment as a presenter on TalkTV, where she is to present a weekly show from 3 February.
• 29 January – Nadhim Zahawi is dismissed as Chair of the Conservative Party after an inquiry finds he committed a "serious breach of the ministerial code" over his tax affairs.
• 30 January –
• William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, steps back from the planned investigation into how Richard Sharp got the job as BBC chairman because of previous contact between them. Another investigator will be appointed to take on the inquiry.
• MPs vote 315–246 in favour of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which is then sent to the House of Lords for further debate.