Scottish devolution referendum, 1997

Scottish devolution referendum, 1997
Do you agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament as proposed by the Government?
Location Scotland
Date 11 September 1997
Results
Votes %
Yes 1,775,045 74.29%
No 614,400 25.71%
Valid votes 2,389,445 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 11,986 0.5%
Total votes 2,389,445 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 3,973,673 60.13%
Results by Council areas
  Yes     No
Saturation of colour reflects the strength of the Yes vote in each Council area.
Scotland
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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 result was 'Yes-Yes': a majority voted in favour of both proposals.

The referendum was a Labour manifesto commitment, held four months after their landslide victory in the 1997 UK general election. It was the second referendum held in Scotland over the question of devolution, the first being in 1979 and is to date the only major referendum to be held in any part of the United Kingdom where voters were asked two questions in the same plebiscite. Turnout for the referendum was 60.4%.

Background

Logo used by the Yes Campaign.

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.

Logo used by the No Campaign.

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.[1]

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 179.

Referendum questions

The electorate was asked to vote on two sets of statements which corresponded to both proposals.[2]


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))

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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[4]

Campaigning in the referendum was suspended between the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.[5] 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 the Referendums Act.[5]

Opinion polling

Scottish Parliament

Date(s)
conducted		 Polling organisation/client Sample size Agree Disagree Undecided Lead
11 September 1997 Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 results 2,401,431 74.3% 25.7% 48.6%
10 Sep ICM/Scotsman - 63% 25% 12% 38%
8 Sep MORI/STV - 67% 22% 11% 45%
6-7 Sep System Three/Herald 1,039 61% 20% 19% 41%
7 Sep NOP/Sunday Times - 63% 21% 16% 42%
7 Sep ICM/Scotsman 1,010 60% 25% 15% 35%
31 Aug Death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
21-26 Aug System Three/Herald 1,039 61% 23% 16% 38%
24-29 Jul System Three/Herald 1,024 65% 19% 16% 46%
26 Jun-1 Jul System Three/Herald 978 68% 21% 10% 47%
22–27 May System Three/Herald 1,024 64% 21% 15% 43%

Tax-varying powers

Date(s)
conducted		 Polling organisation/client Sample size Agree Disagree Undecided Lead
11 September 1997 Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 results 2,402,165 63.5% 36.5% 27.0%
10 Sep ICM/Scotsman - 48% 40% 12% 8%
8 Sep MORI/STV - 45% 31% 24% 14%
6-7 Sep System Three/Herald 1,039 45% 31% 24% 14%
7 Sep NOP/Sunday Times - 51% 34% 15% 17%
7 Sep ICM/Scotsman 1,010 45% 38% 17% 7%
31 Aug Death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
21-26 Aug System Three/Herald 1,039 47% 32% 21% 15%
24-29 Jul System Three/Herald 1,024 54% 27% 18% 27%
26 Jun-1 Jul System Three/Herald 978 56% 26% 18% 30%
22–27 May System Three/Herald 1,024 53% 28% 19% 25%

Results

The result was 'Yes-Yes': the majority voted 'I agree' in favour of both proposals.[2] Two council areas had an overall "Yes-No" result - Dumfries & Galloway and Orkney. More votes were cast for the first question than the second in all regions (except Fife), with substantially more spoilt ballots for the second question, perhaps due to voter confusion over the two papers.[6]

Question 1

Map showing results by council.
  80–90% Yes
  70–80% Yes
  60–70% Yes
Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 (Question 1)
Choice Votes %
Referendum passed 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 Votes Proportion of votes
Agree Disagree Agree Disagree
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 80.0% 20.0%
Dumfries and Galloway 44,619 28,863 60.7% 39.3%
Dundee City 49,252 15,553 76.0% 24.0%
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 80.0% 20.0%
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 78.0% 22.0%
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 79.0% 21.0%
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%

Question 2

Map showing results by council.
  70-80% Yes
  60-70% Yes
  50-60% Yes
  <50% Yes
Scottish devolution referendum, 1997 (Question 2)
Choice Votes %
Referendum passed 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 Votes Proportion of votes
Agree Disagree Agree Disagree
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 57.0% 43.0%
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 62.0% 38.0%
Falkirk 48,064 21,403 69.2% 30.8%
Fife 108,021 58,987 64.7% 35.3%
Glasgow City 182,589 60,842 75.0% 25.0%
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%

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 in Dumfries & Galloway[7] and Orkney.[8]

Overall Turnout by Council area

Council area Turnout
Aberdeen City 53.7%
Aberdeenshire 57.0%
Angus 60.2%
Argyll & Bute 65.0%
Clackmannanshire 66.1%
Dumfries & Galloway 63.4%
Dundee City 55.7%
East Ayrshire 64.8%
East Dunbartonshire 72.2%
East Lothian 65.0%
East Renfrewshire 68.2%
City of Edinburgh 60.1%
Falkirk 63.7%
Fife 60.7%
Glasgow City 51.6%
Highland 60.3%
Inverclyde 60.4%
Midlothian 65.1%
Moray 57.8%
North Ayrshire 63.4%
North Lanarkshire 60.8%
Perth & Kinross 63.5%
Renfrewshire 62.8%
Scottish Borders 64.8%
South Ayrshire 66.7%
South Lanarkshire 63.1 %
Stirling 65.8%
West Dunbartonshire 63.7%
West Lothian 60.4%
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) 55.8%
Orkney 53.5%
Shetland 51.5%

Aftermath

In response to the majority voting for 'Yes' to both proposals, the UK Parliament passed the Scotland Act 1998. This established a Scottish Parliament for the first time since the adjournment of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The devolved Parliament convened for the first time in May 1999, following its first election. The Scotland Act 1998 also created the Scottish Executive, later to become known as the Scottish Government.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The most influential document this century, The Herald
  2. 1 2 "Scottish Referendum Live - The Results". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Dissent Within the Labour Party". BBC News. BBC.
  4. 1 2 "BBC Briefing". BBC News. BBC.
  5. 1 2 "Referendum Campaign Is Suspended As A Mark Of Respect". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Results of Devolution Referendums 1979 & 1997, House of Commons Library paper RP97-113
  7. ↑ Result – Dumfries and Galloway, BBC, 1997
  8. ↑ Result – Orkney Islands, BBC, 1997
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