Referendum in Scotland 1997
On September 11, 1997, a referendum on self-government ( English devolution referendum , "referendum on decentralization") was held in Scotland . The majority of those who voted spoke in favor of the establishment of a Scottish regional parliament with powers to collect taxes.
prehistory
In the 1960s and 1970s , the proportion of votes held by Scottish regional parties, some of which sought to detach Scotland from the United Kingdom , increased significantly. In response, the Labor government under Prime Minister James Callaghan held a referendum in Scotland in 1979 , with a slim majority of 51.6% of the vote in favor of the establishment of a Scottish regional parliament. However, due to the low turnout, the referendum was deemed invalid. The subsequent general election was won by the British Conservatives , who raised the theme of devolution , i.e. H. no longer pursued the decentralization of the United Kingdom. After the 1979 referendum, Scottish supporters of self-government founded the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly (CSA) on March 1, 1980 , which should continue to work as an interest group for the autonomy of Scotland. The Conservative London government under Margaret Thatcher was very unpopular in Scotland from the start and the Conservatives were only able to win a minority of the Scottish parliamentary seats during their entire tenure from 1979 to 1997. The closure of numerous shipyards and steel industries in Scotland was seen by many Scots as a sign that the London government was primarily advocating the interests of their conservative constituencies in England. From the CSA, a Scottish National Convention was founded in 1988 to put support for the autonomy movement on a broader social basis. Representatives of various opposition parties, including the Scottish Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats, participated in this National Convention . In 1995, the Convention issued a publication entitled Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right , which modeled a Scottish regional parliament.
The general election on May 1, 1997 was won by a very clear majority by the Labor Party under its new chairman Tony Blair , who himself grew up in Scotland. Labor promises to hold another referendum on self-government in Scotland and Wales .
Referendum results
The referendum in Scotland was scheduled for September 11, 1997. The voters were asked two different questions, which they could answer independently of one another:
“I agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. / I do not agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. "
“ I agree that a Scottish Parliament be set up. / I am against the creation of a Scottish Parliament. "
“I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. / I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. ”
“ I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have the right to collect taxes. / I am against a Scottish Parliament having the right to collect taxes. "
In contrast to the 1979 referendum, this time no quorum was set for voter turnout. In 1979 there was a controversial clause that on the one hand the absolute majority of the voters but also at least 40% of the eligible voters had to vote "yes" for the referendum to be valid. In the election campaign before the referendum date, the Scottish Labor Party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party voted for the acceptance of both questions in the referendum under the stylized motto Scotland FORward . However, there were clear programmatic differences here. Labor and the Liberal Democrats named Scottish local autonomy within the United Kingdom as their goal, while the SNP and the Greens advocated full Scottish independence as the ultimate goal. The Conservative Party, on the other hand, recommended that voters reject both questions in a campaign led by Brian Monteith under the motto Think Twice .
Voting total |
Asked about the establishment of a Scottish Parliament | Question about tax competences for parliament | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes -votes | No -votes | Yes -votes | No -votes | |||||||
Unitary Authority | electoral participation |
be right | be right | Percent of voters |
be right | Percent of voters |
be right | Percent of voters |
be right | Percent of voters |
Aberdeen | 53.4 | 90,615 | 65,035 | 71.8 | 25,580 | 28.2 | 54,320 | 60.3 | 35,709 | 39.7 |
Aberdeenshire | 56.7 | 96,499 | 61,621 | 63.9 | 34,878 | 36.1 | 50,295 | 52.3 | 45,929 | 47.7 |
Angus | 60 | 51,921 | 33,571 | 64.7 | 18,350 | 35.3 | 27,641 | 53.4 | 24,089 | 46.6 |
Argyll and Bute | 64.6 | 45,248 | 30,452 | 67.3 | 14,796 | 32.7 | 25,746 | 56.9 | 19,429 | 43 |
East Ayrshire | 64.5 | 60,557 | 49.131 | 81.1 | 11,426 | 18.9 | 42,559 | 70.3 | 17,824 | 29.5 |
North Ayrshire | 63.1 | 67,235 | 51,304 | 76.3 | 15,931 | 23.7 | 43,990 | 65.4 | 22,991 | 34.3 |
South Ayrshire | 66.4 | 60,070 | 40.161 | 66.9 | 19,909 | 33.1 | 33,679 | 56.1 | 26,217 | 43.8 |
Borders | 64.4 | 53,915 | 33,855 | 62.8 | 20,060 | 37.2 | 27,284 | 50.6 | 26,497 | 49.3 |
Clackmannanshire | 65.8 | 23,496 | 18,790 | 80 | 4,706 | 20th | 16,112 | 68.6 | 7,355 | 31.3 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 63.1 | 73,482 | 44,619 | 60.7 | 28,863 | 39.3 | 35,737 | 48.6 | 37,499 | 51.2 |
East Dunbartonshire | 72.3 | 58,642 | 40,917 | 69.8 | 17,725 | 30.2 | 34,576 | 59.0 | 23,914 | 40.9 |
West Dunbartonshire | 63.4 | 46.109 | 39,051 | 84.7 | 7,058 | 15.3 | 34,408 | 74.6 | 11,628 | 25.3 |
Dundee | 55.3 | 64,805 | 49,252 | 76 | 15,553 | 24 | 42,304 | 65.3 | 22,280 | 34.5 |
Edinburgh | 59.8 | 216.732 | 155,900 | 71.9 | 60,832 | 28.1 | 133,843 | 61.8 | 82,188 | 38 |
Falkirk | 63.4 | 69,595 | 55,642 | 80 | 13,953 | 20th | 48.064 | 69.1 | 21,403 | 30.8 |
Fife | 60.9 | 167.008 | 125,668 | 76.1 | 39,517 | 23.9 | 108.021 | 64.7 | 58,987 | 35.3 |
Glasgow | 51.2 | 244,375 | 204.269 | 83.6 | 40.106 | 16.4 | 182,589 | 74.7 | 60,842 | 25th |
Highland | 60.3 | 99,982 | 72,551 | 72.6 | 27,431 | 27.4 | 61,359 | 61.4 | 37,525 | 37.9 |
Inverclyde | 60 | 40,625 | 31,680 | 78 | 8,945 | 22nd | 27.194 | 66.9 | 13,277 | 32.8 |
North Lanarkshire | 60.4 | 149.073 | 123.063 | 82.6 | 26,010 | 17.4 | 107,288 | 72.0 | 41,372 | 27.8 |
South Lanarkshire | 62.8 | 147,670 | 114.908 | 77.8 | 32,762 | 22.2 | 99,587 | 67.4 | 47,708 | 32.4 |
East Lothian | 64.9 | 45,190 | 33,525 | 74.2 | 11,665 | 25.8 | 28,152 | 62.3 | 16,765 | 37.3 |
West Lothian | 62.3 | 71,537 | 56,923 | 79.6 | 14,614 | 20.4 | 47,990 | 67.1 | 23,354 | 32.7 |
Midlothian | 64.9 | 39,660 | 31,681 | 79.9 | 7,979 | 20.1 | 26,776 | 67.5 | 12,762 | 32.3 |
Moray | 57.5 | 36,944 | 24,822 | 67.2 | 12,122 | 32.8 | 19,326 | 52.3 | 17,344 | 47.3 |
Orkney Islands | 53.2 | 8,290 | 4,749 | 57.3 | 3,541 | 42.7 | 3,917 | 47.3 | 4,344 | 52.6 |
Perth and Kinross | 62.7 | 65,342 | 40,344 | 61.7 | 24,998 | 38.3 | 33,398 | 51.1 | 31,709 | 48.7 |
East Renfrewshire | 68 | 45,826 | 28,253 | 61.7 | 17,573 | 38.3 | 23,580 | 51.5 | 22,153 | 48.4 |
Renfrewshire | 62.4 | 86,924 | 68,711 | 79 | 18,213 | 21st | 55,075 | 63.4 | 31,537 | 36.4 |
Shetland | 51.3 | 8,705 | 5,430 | 62.4 | 3,275 | 37.6 | 4,478 | 51.4 | 4,198 | 48.4 |
Stirling | 65.5 | 42,630 | 29,190 | 68.5 | 13,440 | 31.5 | 25,044 | 58.8 | 17,487 | 41.1 |
Western Isles | 55.3 | 12,566 | 9,977 | 79.4 | 2,589 | 20.6 | 8,557 | 68.1 | 3,947 | 31.6 |
Scotland as a whole | 60.2 | 2,391,268 | 1,775,045 | 74.3 | 614,400 | 25.7 | 1,512,889 | 63.3 | 870.263 | 36.5 |
Results of the referendum according to unitary authorities (question about the establishment of a Scottish parliament, percent "yes" votes): > 55–60% > 60–65% > 65–70% > 70–75% > 75–80% > 80 -85%
Results of the referendum according to Unitary Authorities (question about tax competences for a Scottish Parliament, percent "yes" votes): > 45–50% > 50–55% > 55–60% > 60–65% > 65–70% > 70 -75%
As a result, there was clear nationwide agreement on the question of whether a Scottish Parliament should be set up. When it came to the question of whether this new parliament should have its own tax powers, there was a majority, albeit a much smaller one. As a result, Parliament in Westminster passed the Scotland Act 1998 with a Labor majority , which paved the way for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament of its own. The first elections for the new 129-seat Scottish Parliament took place on May 6, 1999. The strongest party was the Labor Party, followed by the SNP, while the Conservative Party could not win any of the 73 direct electoral constituencies, but received 13 seats on the state list. The first regional government of Scotland was formed from a coalition of Labor and Liberal Democrats.
Individual evidence
- ^ The Campaign for a Scottish Assembly. (PDF; 1.4 MB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 1, 2014 ; accessed on May 25, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Devolution Debate This Century. BBC News, accessed May 25, 2013 .
- ↑ Isobell White, Jessica Yonwin: Devolution in Scotland. (PDF; 101 kB) House of Commons Library, April 5, 2004, accessed on May 28, 2013 (English).
- ^ A b c Richard Dewdney: Results of Devolution Referendums (1979 & 1997): Research Paper No 97/113. (PDF) House of Commons Library, November 10, 1997, accessed May 17, 2013 .
- ^ Brian Taylor: Scottish Devolution. BBC Scotland, accessed May 26, 2013 .
- ^ Scottish Referendum Live - The Results. BBC News, accessed May 26, 2013 .