Events from the year 2023 in Wales.
Incumbents
First Minister – Mark Drakeford Secretary of State for Wales – David T. C. Davies Archbishop of Wales – Andy John, Bishop of Bangor Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – Myrddin ap Dafydd National Poet of Wales – Hanan Issa
Events January 1 January – The 2023 New Year Honours List includes footballer Sophie Ingle (OBE) and academic Colin Riordan (CBE). Politicians Chris Bryant and Julian Lewis receive knighthoods. 4 January – Public and Commercial Services Union workers begin the first of their 6-day strikes due to issues regarding salary, pensions, job security and redundancy terms. Driving tests are cancelled in seventeen testing centres across Wales. 10 January – Hungarian airline Wizz Air announces they will cease all operations to and from Cardiff Airport amid challenging macro-economic environment and high operational costs. 14 January – 250 members of the Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith gather to protest in Carmarthen aiming to promote greater support for the Welsh language and calling for more Welsh-medium schools to be established across Wales. Welsh folk singer Dafydd Iwan performs Yma o Hyd and speaks in support of the movement. 16 January – The NAHT Cymru and NEU trade unions announce a four-day walkout by teachers in a dispute over pay. NAHT Cymru wants a pay rise that matches the on-going inflation surge plus a 5% rise. The NEU is asking for a 12% adjustment. 19 January – Local authorities receive £208m for 11 projects from round two of UK Government's Levelling Up Fund attracting criticism from the Welsh Government as Wales remains £1.1bn worse off than previous European Union inequality schemes, while Plaid Cymru critiques the system by which the money is distributed calling it arbitrary and ad-hoc. 24 January – The Welsh Government launches a 12-week consultation process on plans to introduce mandatory licensing for tattoo artists, body piercers and cosmetic clinics, which will make Wales the first UK nation to introduce a register for practitioners. 28 January – The Welsh Government announces that Clare Drakeford, the wife of First Minister Mark Drakeford, has died suddenly. 30 January – Dr Sarah Myhill, a private practitioner from Powys, who posted false claims about COVID-19 vaccines online, is banned from practising for nine months after a hearing conducted by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.
February 14 February – All major road building projects in Wales, including the proposed Third Menai Crossing, are scrapped amid concerns about the environment. The BBC Welsh Service (now BBC Cymru Wales) marks the 100th anniversary of the BBC's first broadcast in Wales. 16 February – The funeral of Clare Drakeford is held in Cardiff, and attended by senior politicians. The Wales government announces additional election reforms for the 2026 Senedd election, such as candidates needing to be resident in Wales. 20 February – Three days of strikes involving almost half of ambulance workers in Wales begin, with members of the GMB union walking out on 20 February, and members of the Unite union walking out on 21 and 22 February. 21 February – Ambulance workers belonging to the Unite union call two strikes for 6 and 10 March. 22 February – The NASUWT teaching union rejects a revised pay offer from the Welsh Government. 23 February – The National Health Service in Wales misses its first post-COVID target for reducing the backlog of outpatients waiting for an appointment, with 75,000 people waiting for a year or more when there should be none. 24 February – Devil's Gulch, a popular walking spot in the Elan Valley, is reopened to the public five years after it was closed following a rockfall. An earthquake measuring 3.7 magnitude strikes Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent at 11.59pm.
March 3 March The Unite and GMB unions call off a planned strike by the Welsh Ambulance Service scheduled for Monday 6 March after "significant progress" in talks with the Welsh Government. The final of the Cân i Gymru (Song for Wales) 2023 competition is won by Dylan Morris, with the song "Patagonia". 6 March – Three people are found dead nearly two days after being reported missing, after their car is spotted by a police helicopter, having crashed into trees in the outskirts of Cardiff. Two survivors are taken to hospital in a critical condition. 8 March – Members of the Welsh Ambulance Service belonging to the Unite union call off a strike scheduled for Friday 10 March following "progress" with officials from the Welsh Government. In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the UK, the widow of a nurse who died as a result of COVID-19 is to sue the National Health Service in Wales. Linda Roberts, the widow of Gareth Roberts, who had Type 2 diabetes, plans the legal action after a coroner found that he died as a result of "industrial disease". 10 March – Members of the National Education Union in Wales call off two strikes planned for 15 and 16 March after receiving a new pay offer from the Welsh Government. 13 March – A man is killed in a gas explosion at a house in Morriston area of Swansea. He is subsequently identified as a 68-year-old pensioner. 16 March – The Welsh Government bans the TikTok app from all its official devices amid concerns about its security. 23 March – Members of the National Education Union vote to accept a pay offer from the Welsh Government worth 8%, ending their industrial dispute. 26 March – Welsh rugby clubs vote for major governance changes to the Welsh Rugby Union board following an extraordinary general meeting at their headquarters in Port Talbot.
April 8 April – Llys Rhosyr, a mediaeval court of the Prince of Gwynedd, has been bought by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environment service. 13 April – Andrew Edwards, a councillor representing a ward in Haverfordwest, is suspended from the Conservative Party after his voice is identified on a recording in which someone stating a belief that white men should have black slaves. 17 April – Brecon Beacons National Park announces it will be known in future by its Welsh name, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, with immediate effect. Employees of the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales belonging to the Prospect union announce plans to strike on 11 May and 7 June over pay. 24 April – The Criminal Cases Review Commission confirms it has received a request from Pembrokeshire serial killer John William Cooper for a review of his conviction for double murders committed in 1985 and 1999. 25 April – Following a trial at Swansea Crown Court, Kyle Bevan is sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 28 years for the murder of his two-year-old stepdaughter Lola James. Sinead James, Lola's mother, is sentenced to six years for causing or allowing her daughter's death at her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in 2020. The Welsh Government issues an apology over the forced adoption of thousands of children of unmarried mothers during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. 26 April – Ffos-y-Fran near Merthyr Tydfil, the UK's largest opencast mine, must close after 16 years of excavation after an application to extend its operation was rejected. 28 April – Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells the Welsh Conservatives that no more powers should be devolved to the Senedd and the Welsh Government as voters do not want politicians focused on "constitutional tinkering".
May 2 May South Wales Police confirm that human remains found in secluded woodland in Swansea are those of Russell Scozzi, who disappeared in 2002. An independent investigation is launched after the broadcasting union BECTU makes allegations of "bullying and a toxic culture" at Welsh-language TV channel S4C. 3 May – An independent review into the internal culture of Plaid Cymru identifies several issues within the party, and concludes that it needs to "detoxify a culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny". 4 May Education Minister Jeremy Miles says he will write to the UK government to remind them to accurately translate into the Welsh language after a Welsh language citizen's oath asked people to curse at God. Senedd presiding officer Elin Jones confirms she will not be attending the coronation of Charles III because "as a republican" it is "for others to celebrate a coronation". 7 May – Leaked text message conversations obtained by the BBC show members of Plaid Cymru discussed whether the party's leader, Adam Price, was fit for office in November 2022, and debated whether he should be removed from the post. 10 May – Adam Price announces his resignation as leader of Plaid Cymru after a report found a culture of misogyny, harassment and bullying in the party. 11 May – Llyr Gruffydd is appointed interim leader of Plaid Cymru following the resignation of Adam Price. 12 May – NHS workers belonging to the Unison trade union vote to accept a 5% pay increase from the Welsh Government along with a one-off payment worth between £900 and £1,190. 18 May – Data released by NHS Wales shows that 30,000 people have been waiting for more than two years for hospital treatment after being referred. 19 May – The Court of Appeal increases the prison sentences of two parents who were previously sentenced for neglecting their 16-year-old morbidly obese daughter, who died in squalor in October 2020. 20 May – Two European monarchs, King Felipe VI of Spain and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, accompanied by their wives, Queen Letizia and Queen Máxima, attend a students' awards ceremony at Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan, at which their daughters, Leonor, Princess of Asturias, and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands, receive certificates. 23 May – A riot takes place in Cardiff after news of the deaths of two teenagers on an electric bike is published on social media. The following day, after the discovery of video evidence, South Wales Police admit that they had been following the boys earlier but deny any involvement in the crash. The force refers itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for investigation. 25 May Nine people were arrested for participating in the Ely riot, police confirm. Bablin Molik becomes the first woman of colour to be appointed as Lord Mayor of Cardiff. Welsh Water customers will receive a £10 rebate following an Ofwat ruling over the publication of incorrect data relating to leaks and usage. 29 May–3 June – The Urdd National Eisteddfod takes place in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.
June 1 June – Labour MP Geraint Davies is suspended by the part following accusations of sexual harassment. 7 June – Labour MP and frontbencher Gerald Jones wins his party's selection to become the Labour candidate for the new parliamentary seat of Merthyr Tydfil and Upper Cynon, which will be contested at the next UK general election. The seat was ultimately renamed Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare in the final recommendations. 8 June – Plans are approved for a 35-storey tower block in Cardiff that will become Wales's tallest building. The structure in the city's Wood Street will be 113 m (371 ft) tall, overtaking The Tower building in Swansea, which is 107 m (351 ft). 9 June The Welsh Government announces plans to launch a consultation on the introduction of rent controls for private tenants. Rhun ap Iorwerth is set to become the next leader of Plaid Cymru after the final two candidates seen as potential rivals in the party's leadership race, Sian Gwenllian and Sioned Williams, issue a joint statement ruling themselves out of the contest. 10 June – A parking firm loses a civil case against a motorist over an unpaid £160 fine because it failed to provide the information in Welsh as she had requested. 13 June