Scottish devolution referendum, 1979

Scottish devolution referendum, 1979
Do you want the Provisions of the Scotland Act 1978 to be put into effect?
Results Votes Of total Yes 1,230,937 7001516200000000000♠51.62% No 1,153,502 7001483800000000000♠48.38% Valid votes 2,384,439 7001998700000000000♠99.87% Invalid or blank votes 3,133 6999130000000000000♠0.13% Total votes 2,387,572 100.00% Voter turnout 7001637200000000000♠63.72% Electorate 3,747,112
Results by region   Yes   No
Referendum held: 1 March 1979

The Scottish referendum of 1979 was a post-legislative referendum to decide whether there was sufficient support for a Scottish Assembly proposed in the Scotland Act 1978 among the Scottish electorate. This was an act to create a devolved deliberative assembly for Scotland. An amendment to the Act stipulated that it would be repealed if fewer than 40% of the total electorate voted Yes in the referendum. The result was that 51.6% supported the proposal, but with a turnout of 64%, this represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate. The Act was subsequently repealed.

Background

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In 1976, the UK's Labour government led by James Callaghan, which had won the previous general election in 1974 by just three seats, had lost its parliamentary majority entirely following a series of adverse by-election results. To recreate a voting majority in the House of Commons, the government made an agreement with the Scottish National Party and Plaid 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. This in turn followed the findings of the Kilbrandon commission which had recommended the establishment of a separate Scottish parliament.^[1]

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

Scotland Act 1978

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 another guillotine motion, the Bills were passed.^[1] During the passage of the Scotland Act 1978 through Parliament, an amendment introduced by Labour MP George Cunningham added a requirement that the approval at the referendum be by 40% of Scotland's total registered electorate, rather than by a majority.^[2]

Proposed Assembly

Had the Scotland Act 1978 entered force, it would have created a Scottish Assembly with limited legislative powers. There would have been a Scottish Executive headed by a "First Secretary", taking over some of the functions of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Meetings of the Scottish Assembly would have been held at the Old Royal High School in Regent Road, Edinburgh. The former school hall was adapted for use by the Scottish Assembly, including the installation of microphones and new olive green leather seating. Members would have been elected by the "first past the post" system.

The Scottish Assembly would have had the power to introduce primary legislation to be known as "Measures" (rather than Acts) within defined areas of competence. This form of legislation would not receive royal assent like Acts of Parliament do. Instead, the legislation is signed via an Order in Council, which the monarch signs and appends to the assembly measure once passed. Some other new offices would have been created, such as a Comptroller and Auditor General for Scotland.

The areas of responsibility included:

• Education
• The environment
• Health
• Home affairs
• Legal matters
• Social services

Responsibility for agriculture, fisheries and food would be divided between the Assembly and the United Kingdom government, while the latter would retain control of electricity supply.

Results

The referendum was held on 1 March 1979. The electorate were asked to vote yes or no: "Parliament has decided to consult the electorate in Scotland on the question whether the Scotland Act 1978 should be put into effect. 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	2,387,572	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	3,747,112	63.72

By council area

Source: Glasgow Herald

Aftermath

The result was a narrow 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 accepted 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.^[3] In particular, the Scottish 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 specific flat numbers were not specified. The work of electoral registration staff to obtain an accurate current register was almost impossible.

Under the terms of the Act, it could then be repealed by a Statutory Instrument to be approved by Parliament. However, the government's decision to abandon devolution for Scotland led the SNP to withdraw its support for the government. A subsequent vote of no confidence led to the resignation of the Callaghan government, and an election was called. The vote to repeal the Act did not happen until 20 June 1979, by which time a Conservative government had come to power under Margaret Thatcher.^[2]

A second referendum to create a devolved legislature in Scotland was held in 1997, which led to the enactment of the Scotland Act 1998 and the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999.

See also

• Scottish independence
• Referendums in the United Kingdom
• Scottish Assembly
• Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)
• Welsh devolution referendum, 1979
• Chronology of Scottish Politics: The Devolution years 1967 - 1979

References

Elections and referendums in Scotland Parliamentary elections Pre-1707 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 Local elections 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1977 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 Referendums 1979 1997 2014 Local referendums Scottish licensing referendums, 1920 Strathclyde (water) 1994 Edinburgh (congestion charge) 2005 See also: Elections in Great Britain (1707–1800) United Kingdom Politics of Scotland

(1978 ←) United Kingdom local elections, 1979 (→ 1980) Metropolitan boroughs Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton District councils (England) Adur Allerdale Alnwick Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bath Beaconsfield Berwick-upon-Tweed Beverley Blaby Blackburn Blackpool Blyth Valley Bolsover Boothferry Boston Bournemouth Bracknell Braintree Breckland Brentwood Bridgnorth Brighton Bristol Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Caradon Carlisle Carrick Castle Morpeth Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cheltenham Cherwell Chesterfield Chester-le-Street Chester Chichester Chiltern Chorley Christchurch Cleethorpes Colchester Congleton Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Dacorum Darlington Dartford Daventry Derby Derwentside Dover Durham Easington East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eastbourne Eastleigh Eden Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fareham Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gillingham Glanford Gloucester Gosport Gravesham Great Yarmouth Grimsby Guildford Halton Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hartlepool Hart Hastings Havant Hereford Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Holderness Horsham Hove Hull Huntingdon Hyndburn Ipswich Kennet Kerrier Kettering Kingswood Lancaster Langbaurgh Leicester Leominster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Maldon Malvern Hills Mansfield Medina Medway Melton Mendip Mid Bedfordshire Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Middlesbrough Milton Keynes Mole Valley New Forest Newbury Newark Newcastle-under-Lyme North Bedfordshire North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Shropshire North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire North Wiltshire North Wolds Northampton Northavon Norwich Nottingham Nuneaton Oadby and Wigston Oswestry Oxford Pendle Penwith Peterborough Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Preston Purbeck Reading Redditch Reigate and Banstead Restormel Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Rutland Ryedale Salisbury Scarborough Scunthorpe Sedgefield Sedgemoor Selby Sevenoaks Shepway Shrewsbury and Atcham Slough Spelthorne South Bedfordshire South Cambridgeshire South Derbyshire South Hams South Herefordshire South Holland South Lakeland South Kesteven South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Shropshire South Staffordshire South Wight Southampton Southend-on-Sea Spelthorne St Albans St Edmundsbury Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Suffolk Coastal Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Taunton Deane Teesdale Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thamesdown Thanet The Wrekin Three Rivers Thurrock Tonbridge and Malling Torbay Torridge Tunbridge Wells Tynedale Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Vale Royal Wansbeck Wansdyke Warrington Warwick Watford Waveney Waverley Wealden Wear Valley Wellingborough Welwyn Hatfield West Derbyshire West Devon West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Norfolk West Oxfordshire West Somerset West Wiltshire Weymouth and Portland Wimborne Windsor and Maidenhead Winchester Woking Wokingham Woodspring Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wycombe Wyre Wyre Forest Yeovil York District councils (Wales) Aberconwy Afan Alyn and Deeside Anglesey - Ynys Môn Arfon Blaenau Gwent Brecknock Cardiff Carmarthen Ceredigion Colwyn Cynon Valley Delyn Dinefwr Dwyfor Glyndŵr Islwyn Llanelli Lliw Valley Meirionnydd Merthyr Tydfil Monmouth Montgomery Neath Newport Ogwr Preseli Radnor Rhondda Rhuddlan Rhymney Valley South Pembrokeshire Swansea Taff-Ely Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan Wrexham Maelor Referendums Scottish devolution Welsh devolution See also: UK General election European Parliament election

Devolution in the United Kingdom Devolved areas National level Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Regional level (in England) Combined authorities Directly elected mayoralties Greater London Authority Referendums1 English mayoral referendums London, 1998 2012 North East England 2004 Northern Ireland 1998 Scotland 1979 1997 Wales 1979 1997 2011 Heads of devolved governments Chairs of combined authorities Directly elected mayors London (Mayor) Northern Ireland (FM and dFM) Scotland (FM) Wales (FM) Devolved legislatures2 Northern Ireland Assembly National Assembly for Wales Scottish Parliament Devolved administrations3 Northern Ireland Executive Scottish Government Welsh Government Organisations and laws of the legislatures and governments of the UK and the devolved areas Commissions (UK Parliament) Kilbrandon Commission Holtham Commission Silk Commission McKay Commission Commissions (devolved legislatures) National Assembly for Wales Richard Commission Holtham Commission Scottish Parliament Calman Commission Smith Commission Devolution acts Greater London Authority Acts 1999 2007 Northern Ireland Acts 1998 2006 Wales Acts 1998 2006 2014 Scotland Acts 1998 2012 Select committees Northern Ireland Affairs Scottish Affairs Welsh Affairs Grand committees England Northern Ireland Scottish Welsh Departments and Territorial Offices (MOJ) Cabinet Office - Devolution Secretariat Ministry of Justice - Devolution Directorate-General Office of the Advocate General for Scotland Northern Ireland Office Scotland Office Wales Office Elections London Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Related articles Current Agreements/Treaties Anglo-Irish Treaty Good Friday Agreement Budget Barnett formula Block grant Constitution of the United Kingdom Reserved and excepted matters West Lothian question Proposals Cornwall Cornish Assembly Cornish Constitutional Convention Mebyon Kernow Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament Devolved English parliament Campaign for an English Parliament Northern England Campaign for the North Yorkshire First Other parts of Southern England Wessex Regionalist Party Scotland Full fiscal autonomy Historical Administrations of England English Regional Assemblies, 1998-2010 Administrations of London London County Council Greater London Council Administrations of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1974 Legislatures of Northern Ireland 1922–72 1973–74 1982–86 Northern Ireland-related legislation of the UK Parliament Ireland, 1886 Ireland, 1893 Ireland, 1914 Ireland, 1920 Irish Free State, 1922 Northern Ireland, 1974 Irish Home Rule movement Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Scotland Act 1978 Scottish Office Sunningdale Agreement Wales Act 1978 Welsh Office 1. Rejected referendums are italicised. The others were fully or partially approved. 2. There is no law-making body for any regionally devolved area. 3. Administrations of regionally devolved areas are omitted. Category