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1979 Scottish devolution referendum

1 March 1979 1997 →
Do you want the Provisions of the Scotland Act 1978 to be put into effect?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 1,230,937 51.62% No 1,153,502 48.38% Valid votes 2,384,439 99.87% Invalid or blank votes 3,133 0.13% Total votes 2,387,572 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 3,747,112 63.72%
Results by local voting area Yes:     50–60% No:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

A post-legislativereferendum was held inScotland in 1979 to decide whether there was a sufficient support for aScottish Assembly proposed in theScotland Act 1978 among the Scottish electorate. This was an act to create adevolveddeliberative assembly forScotland. A majority (51.6%) of voters supported the proposal, but an amendment to the Act stipulated that it would be repealed if less than 40% of the total electorate voted in favour. As there was a turnout of 64% the "Yes" vote represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate, and the act was subsequently repealed.

Asecond referendum to create a devolved legislature in Scotland was held in 1997 under a newly elected Labour government, which led to the enactment of theScotland Act 1998 and the creation of a devolvedScottish Parliament in 1999.

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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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Following theScottish National Party gaining its first peacetime MP in the1967 Hamilton by-election andPlaid Cymru's first win at the1966 Carmarthen by-election in Wales, the United Kingdom government set up theRoyal Commission on the Constitution, referred to as theKilbrandon Commission, in 1969. Theroyal commission was intended to look at theconstitutional structure of the United Kingdom and consider changes that should be made. The final report was published in 1973.

The commission examined various models ofdevolution,federalism andconfederalism, on top of the break-up of the UK into separatesovereign states.

In relation to Scotland, eight of the commission's members supported aScottish Assembly, via a devolved structure. It would recommended that the assembly would have around 100 members, elected undersingle transferable vote from multi-member constituencies. The assembly would obtain powers in the areas of education, environment, health, home affairs, legal matters and social services, while agriculture, fisheries and food would be divided between the assembly and the UK government.

After returning to power with a minority government inFebruary 1974 election,Harold Wilson's Labour government published awhite paper entitledDemocracy and Devolution: Proposals for Scotland and Wales, published in September 1974. The party gained a narrow majority of three seats in theelection in October.

By 1976, the Labour government, now led byJames Callaghan, had lost its parliamentary majority entirely following a series of adverseby-election results. To provide a stable majority in the House of Commons, the government made an agreement with theScottish National Party andPlaid Cymru whereby, in return for their support in Commons votes, the government would instigate legislation to devolve political powers from Westminster to Scotland and Wales.^[1]

TheScotland and Wales Bill was subsequently introduced in November 1976, but the government struggled to get the legislation through parliament. The Conservative opposition opposed its second reading, and on the first day ofcommittee 350 amendments were put down. Progress slowed to a crawl. In February 1977, the Bill's cabinet sponsorMichael Foot tabled aguillotine motion to attempt to halt the delays. The motion was rejected and the government was forced to withdraw the Bill.^[1]

The government returned to the issue of devolution in November 1977. Separate bills for Scotland and Wales were published and support from the Liberals was obtained. In spite of continued opposition requiring anotherguillotine motion, the Bills were passed.^[1] During the passage of the Scotland Act 1978 through Parliament, anamendment introduced by Labour MPGeorge Cunningham added a requirement that the bill had to be approved by 40% of the total registered electorate, as well as a simple majority (50% + 1).^[2]

Do you want the provisions of the Scotland Act 1978 to be put into effect?

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,230,937	51.62
No	1,153,502	48.38
Valid votes	2,384,439	99.87
Invalid or blank votes	3,133	0.13
Total votes	2,387,582	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	3,747,112	63.72
Source:House of Commons Library

The result was a majority in favour of devolution. A total of 1,230,937 (51.6%)^[2] voted at the referendum in favour of an Assembly, a majority of about 77,400 over those voting against. However, this total represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate as a whole.^[2] The Labour government held that the Act's requirements had not been met, and that devolution would therefore not be introduced for Scotland.

In the wake of the referendum the disappointed supporters of the bill conducted a protest campaign under the slogan "Scotland said 'yes'", officially launched in a Glasgow hotel on 7 March 1979.^[5] In particular, theScottish National Party (SNP) carried out a survey of the electoral register in the Edinburgh Central constituency. This appeared to show that the register was so out of date that even in an area where major support for a "yes" vote might be expected, achievement of 40% of the electorate was virtually unattainable. This was because the majority of electors lived in older tenements or newer Council blocks of flats where flat numbers were not specified. The work of electoral registration staff to obtain an accurate current register was almost impossible.^{[citation needed]}

Under the terms of the Act, it could then be repealed by aStatutory instrument to be approved by Parliament. The government's decision to abandon devolution led the SNP to withdraw its support for the Labour government. It was in a minority in Parliament and had relied on deals with the smaller parties, including the SNP, for its survival. After establishing that the Liberals and the SNP would vote against the government in a confidence motion, the Conservative opposition tabled amotion on 28 March. The government was defeated by one vote, and aUK general election was subsequently called. This was won by the Conservatives, and Parliament voted to repeal the Act on 20 June 1979.^[2]

Asecond referendum to create a devolved legislature in Scotland was held in 1997 under a newly elected Labour government, which led to the enactment of theScotland Act 1998 and the creation of a devolvedScottish Parliament in 1999.

• 1997 Scottish devolution referendum
• 2014 Scottish independence referendum
• Scottish independence
• Referendums in the United Kingdom
• Scottish Assembly
• Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)
• 1979 Welsh devolution referendum

• Chronology of Scottish Politics: The Devolution Years 1967–1979

• Referendums in Scotland
• 1979 referendums
• 1979 elections in the United Kingdom
• 1979 in Scotland
• 1970s elections in Scotland
• Scottish devolution
• Autonomy referendums
• March 1979 in the United Kingdom

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