Referendum in Scotland 1997

Scotland's location within the UK

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. "

- First question of the referendum of September 11, 1997

“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. "

- Second question in the referendum of 11 September 1997

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 .

Referendum results

	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

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  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%
  
  
  
  
  
  

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  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

1. ^ 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.  
2. ^ The Devolution Debate This Century. BBC News, accessed May 25, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Isobell White, Jessica Yonwin: Devolution in Scotland. (PDF; 101 kB) House of Commons Library, April 5, 2004, accessed on May 28, 2013 (English). 
4. ^ ^{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 . 
5. ^ Brian Taylor: Scottish Devolution. BBC Scotland, accessed May 26, 2013 . 
6. ^ Scottish Referendum Live - The Results. BBC News, accessed May 26, 2013 .