Scottish devolution referendum, 1997

The Scottish devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislative referendum held in Scotland on 11 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers, and whether the Parliament should have tax-varying powers. The referendum was a Labour manifesto commitment and was held in their first term after the 1997 election. This was the second referendum held in Scotland over the question of devolution, the first being in 1979. Turnout for the referendum was 60.4%.

Background

A referendum was held in 1979 under a Labour government which stipulated that a Scottish 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-led Conservative Party won the United Kingdom general election, 1979.

The Campaign 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. The Claim was published in 1988 and signed by most Scottish politicians, local councils, trade unions and churches.

It was agreed to form a Scottish Constitutional Convention made up of all existing MPs and councillors. This was done despite the opposition of the national government of the time of John Major. Because the Labour Party had a clear majority within the convention the Scottish National Party withdrew.

The Labour Party included the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in its manifesto for the United Kingdom general election, 1997, which they won with a landslide majority of 177.

Campaign

Scottish Labour, the SNP, Liberal Democrats, and Scottish Greens campaigned for a 'Yes' vote for both proposals whilst the Conservatives opposed both proposals. Labour MP Tam Dalyell opposed the creation of the Parliament, but in favour of giving such a Parliament the power to raise and lower taxes on the basis that, although he opposed the Parliament as proposed by his party, if it did exist it should have tax-varying powers. [1]

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 the Scottish Constitutional Convention, along with the Scottish National Party. It was supported by the Labour, SNP, Liberal Democrat and Green parties.

The official No campaign, Think Twice, was headed by Brian Monteith, a former employee of the Scottish Conservative MP, Michael Forsyth. Board members included Donald Findlay, a QC, Rector of the University of St Andrews and vice-chairman of Rangers F.C., and senior Conservative peer Lord 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.

Results

The result was 'Yes-Yes': the majority voted in favour of both proposals.

Question 1

Map showing results by council.

  80–90% Yes

  70–80% Yes

  60–70% Yes

Choice	Votes	%
I agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament	1,775,045	74.29
I do not agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament	614,400	25.71
Valid votes	2,389,445	99.50
Invalid or blank votes	11,986	0.50
Total votes	2,401,431	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	3,973,673	60.43

By council area

Council area	Yes vote	No vote	Yes %	No %
Aberdeen City	65,035	25,580	71.8	28.2
Aberdeenshire	61,621	34,878	63.9	36.1
Angus	33,571	18,350	64.7	35.3
Argyll and Bute	30,452	14,796	67.3	32.7
Clackmannanshire	18,790	4,706	80	20
Dumfries and Galloway	44,619	28,863	60.7	39.3
Dundee City	49,252	15,553	76	24
East Ayrshire	49,131	11,426	81.1	18.9
East Dunbartonshire	40,917	17,725	69.8	30.2
East Lothian	33,525	11,665	74.2	25.8
East Renfrewshire	28,253	17,573	61.7	38.3
City of Edinburgh	155,900	60,832	71.9	28.1
Falkirk	55,642	13,953	80	20
Fife	125,668	39,517	76.1	23.9
Glasgow City	204,269	40,106	83.6	16.4
Highland	72,551	27,431	72.6	27.4
Inverclyde	31,680	8,945	78	22
Midlothian	31,681	7,979	79.9	20.1
Moray	24,822	12,122	67.2	32.8
North Ayrshire	51,304	15,931	76.3	23.7
North Lanarkshire	123,063	26,010	82.6	17.4
Perth and Kinross	40,344	24,998	61.7	38.3
Renfrewshire	68,711	18,213	79	21
Scottish Borders	33,855	20,060	62.8	37.2
South Ayrshire	40,161	19,909	66.9	33.1
South Lanarkshire	114,908	32,762	77.8	22.2
Stirling	29,190	13,440	68.5	31.5
West Dunbartonshire	39,051	7,058	84.7	15.3
West Lothian	56,923	14,614	79.6	20.4
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)	9,977	2,589	79.4	20.6
Orkney	4,749	3,541	57.3	42.7
Shetland	5,430	3,275	62.4	37.6
TOTAL	1,775,045	614,400	74.3	25.7

Unlike in the Welsh referendum, a large majority voted 'Yes' in every local council.

Question 2

Map showing results by council.

  70-80% Yes

  60-70% Yes

  50-60% Yes

  <50% Yes

Choice	Votes	%
I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers	1,512,889	63.48
I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers	870,263	36.52
Valid votes	2,383,152	99.21
Invalid or blank votes	19,013	0.79
Total votes	2,402,165	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	3,973,673	60.45

By council area

Council area	Yes vote	No vote	Yes %	No %
Aberdeen City	54,320	35,709	60.3	39.7
Aberdeenshire	50,295	45,929	52.3	47.7
Angus	27,641	24,089	53.4	46.6
Argyll and Bute	25,746	19,429	57	43
Clackmannanshire	16,112	7,355	68.7	31.3
Dumfries and Galloway	35,737	37,499	48.8	51.2
Dundee City	42,304	22,280	65.5	34.5
East Ayrshire	42,559	17,824	70.5	29.5
East Dunbartonshire	34,576	23,914	59.1	40.9
East Lothian	28,152	16,765	62.7	37.3
East Renfrewshire	23,580	22,153	51.6	48.4
City of Edinburgh	133,843	82,188	62	38
Falkirk	48,064	21,403	69.2	30.8
Fife	108,021	58,987	64.7	35.3
Glasgow City	182,589	60,842	75	25
Highland	61,359	37,525	62.1	37.9
Inverclyde	27,194	13,277	67.2	32.8
Midlothian	26,776	12,762	67.7	32.3
Moray	19,326	17,344	52.7	47.3
North Ayrshire	43,990	22,991	65.7	34.3
North Lanarkshire	107,288	41,372	72.2	27.8
Perth and Kinross	33,398	31,709	51.3	48.7
Renfrewshire	55,075	31,537	63.6	36.4
Scottish Borders	27,284	26,487	50.7	49.3
South Ayrshire	33,679	26,217	56.2	43.8
South Lanarkshire	99,587	47,708	67.6	32.4
Stirling	25,044	17,487	58.9	41.1
West Dunbartonshire	34,408	11,628	74.7	25.3
West Lothian	47,990	23,354	67.3	32.7
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)	8,557	3,947	68.4	31.6
Orkney	3,917	4,344	47.4	52.6
Shetland	4,478	4,198	51.6	48.4
TOTAL	1,512,889	870,253	63.5	36.5

Votes in favour of tax-varying powers still commanded significant majority, when compared to establishing the Parliament per se. A majority voted 'Yes' in every local council, apart from in Dumfries & Galloway and Orkney.

Aftermath

In response to the majority voting for 'Yes' to both proposals, the UK Parliament passed the Scotland Act 1998, creating the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive.

See also

• Referendums in the United Kingdom
• Wales referendum, 1997
• Scottish independence