1997 Scottish devolution referendum

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Do you agree that there should be aScottish Parliament as proposed by the Government?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 1,775,045 74.29% No 614,400 25.71% Valid votes 2,389,445 99.92% Invalid or blank votes 11,986 0.50% Total votes 2,391,268 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 3,973,673 60.18%
Results by local voting area Yes:     50–60%     60–70%     70-80%     80-90%

Scottish devolution referendum, 1997

11 September 1997
Do you agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-raising powers as proposed by the Government?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 1,512,889 63.48% No 870,263 36.52% Valid votes 2,383,152 99.66% Invalid or blank votes 19,013 0.80% Total votes 2,391,268 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 3,973,673 60.18%
Results by local voting area Yes:     50–60%     60–70%     70-80% No:     50–60%
Saturation of colour reflects the strength of the Yes vote in each Council area.

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TheScottish devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislativereferendum held inScotland on 11 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of aScottish Parliament withdevolved powers, and whether the Parliament should have tax-varying powers. The result was "Yes–Yes": a majority voted in favour of both proposals, and the Parliament was established following anelection in 1999.Turnout for the referendum was 60.4%.

The referendum was aLabour Party manifesto commitment and was held in their first term in office after the1997 general election, under the provisions of theReferendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997. It was the second referendum held in Scotland over the question ofdevolution, the first being in1979, and is to date the only major referendum to be held in any part of theUnited Kingdom where voters were asked two questions in the sameplebiscite.

Areferendum was held in 1979 under aLabour government which stipulated that aScottish Assembly would come into being if the referendum had been supported by 50% of votes cast plus a controversial rule whereby at least 40% of the electorate had to vote in favour. Although 51.6% voted in favour, this was only 32.9% of the electorate so the Assembly was not brought into being. Shortly afterwards, the predominantly anti-devolution-ledConservative Party won the1979 general election.

National and regional referendums held within theUnited Kingdom and itsconstituent countries
Northern Ireland border poll     1973 EC membership referendum     1975 Scottish devolution referendum     1979 Welsh devolution referendum     1979 Scottish devolution referendum     1997 Welsh devolution referendum     1997 Greater London Authority referendum     1998 NI Good Friday Agreement referendum     1998 NE England devolution referendum     2004 Welsh devolution referendum     2011 Alternative Vote referendum     2011 Scottish independence referendum     2014 EU membership referendum     2016     * UK-wide referendums in bold
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That government put devolution to one side but it was a policy area that remained on the agenda of the Labour Party.^[1] ACampaign for a Scottish Assembly was formed afterwards to continue the campaign. They brought together a committee of "prominent Scots" who drafted the document "A Claim of Right for Scotland".^[2] The "Claim" was published in 1988 and signed by most Scottish politicians, local councils, trade unions and churches.^[2] It was agreed to form aScottish Constitutional Convention, made up of existing MPs and councillors.

The Labour Party included the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in its manifesto for the1997 general election, which they won with a landslide majority of 179.^[1]

The electorate was asked to vote on two sets of statements which corresponded to both proposals.^[3]

On the first ballot paper the following appeared:

Parliament has decided to consult people in Scotland on the Government's proposals for a Scottish Parliament:

I agree there should be a Scottish Parliament

or

I do not agree there should be a Scottish Parliament

(To be marked by a single (X))

On the second ballot paper the following appeared:

Parliament has decided to consult people in Scotland on the Government's proposals for a Scottish Parliament to have tax varying powers:

I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers

or

I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers

(To be marked by a single (X))

Scottish Labour, theSNP,Scottish Liberal Democrats, andScottish Greens campaigned for a "Yes" vote for both proposals whilst theScottish Conservatives opposed both proposals. LabourMPTam Dalyell opposed the creation of the Parliament, but accepted that it should have tax-varying powers if it were to be established.^[4]

The official Yes campaign,Scotland Forward (styled "Scotland FORward"), was headed by the businessman Nigel Smith and came out of the groups that had previously formed theScottish Constitutional Convention, along with theScottish National Party. It was supported by the Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrat and Green parties.^[5]

The official No campaign,Think Twice, was headed byBrian Monteith, a former employee of theConservative MPMichael Forsyth. Board members includedDonald Findlay,rector of the University of St Andrews and vice-chairman ofRangers F.C., and senior ConservativepeerLord Fraser. However, it struggled to get much business support as they were wary of opposing a project that had such support from the new government which had a large majority.^[5]

Campaigning in the referendum was suspended between thedeath andfuneral of Diana, Princess of Wales.^[6] It was speculated that the Scottish referendum could have been postponed, but this would have required a recall of the UK Parliament and an amendment to theReferendums Act.^[6][7]

The result was "Yes-Yes": the majority voted "I agree" in favour of both proposals.^[3] Two council areas had an overall "Yes-No" result –Dumfries and Galloway andOrkney. More votes were cast for the first question than the second in all regions (exceptFife), with substantially more spoilt ballots for the second question, perhaps due to voter confusion over the two papers.^[11]

Votes in favour of tax-varying powers still commanded significant majority, when compared to establishing the Parliament per se. A majority voted 'I agree' in every local council, apart from inDumfries & Galloway^[12] andOrkney.^[13]

In response to the majority voting for "Yes" to both proposals, theUK Parliament passed theScotland Act 1998. This established aScottish Parliament for the first time since the adjournment of the pre-UnionParliament of Scotland in 1707. The devolved Parliament convened for the first time in May 1999, following itsfirst election. This was a poll that theConservative Party had to fight despite losing their "No" Campaign and having no Westminster seats in Scotland after losing the 1997 general election.^[14] The Scotland Act 1998 also created theScottish Executive, later to become known as the Scottish Government.

Professor Tom Devine, academic at theUniversity of Edinburgh, dubbed the referendum result "the most significant development in Scottish political history since the Union of 1707".^[15] As well as the "Yes" campaign leader stated "it does, I hope, end much argument and dispute".Prime MinisterTony Blair claimed that "the era of big centralised government is over".^[16]

The "Yes" campaign leadersDonald Dewar (Scottish Labour) andAlex Salmond (Scottish National Party) held different views over the devolution proposal. However, they put their political differences aside immediately after the vote in celebration. Despite this, the SNP's calls for independence soon reignited with SNP leaderAlex Salmond claiming that there would be an independent Scotland within his lifetime. The "No" campaign did not share this optimism and feared that this vote was a catalyst towards the break-up of the Union.^[16]

When theSecretary of State for Scotland,Donald Dewar, went back toLondon to implement the referendum result, he found the Whitehall civil service unwilling to give up powers and doubting that matters over and above those previously handled by the Scottish Office (such as education, health, transport, police and housing) should be politically devolved. Detail was also lacking in that the Scottish Constitutional Convention had failed to address issues such as the role ofThe Queen or aspects of tax-varying powers.^[15]

• Referendums in the United Kingdom
• 1997 Welsh devolution referendum
• Scottish independence
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• 2014 Scottish independence referendum

• Referendums in Scotland
• 1997 elections in the United Kingdom
• 1997 in Scotland
• 1990s elections in Scotland
• 1997 referendums
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• Constitution of the United Kingdom
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