Devolution Referendum 1979

'All those who believe in Great Britain and its continued existence, now threatened, should be grateful to Mr Tam Dalyell, Labour Member of Parliament for West Lothian.'
Hugh Trevor Roper, Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford, England in the Foreword to Tam Dalyell's Devolution The End of Britain?

The Rigged Referendum of 1979

The format of the ballot paper which was adopted by Lothian and Borders regions for the referendum:

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?

Put a cross (X) in the appropriate box.

YES

NO

The Scots people voted:

Yes 1,230,937 votes (52 %)
No 1,153,502 votes (48 %)
Yes majority 77,435

Scots MPs voted:

Yes 43 votes (69 %)
No 19 votes (31 %)
Yes majority 24

English, Welsh and Irish MPs voted:

Yes 163 votes (37 %)
No 282 votes (63 %)
No majority 119

Total MPs votes:

Yes 206 votes (41 %)
No 301 votes (59 %)
No majority 95

We woz robbed!

Although the Yes side won, Labour decided to impliment George Cunningham's 40 % rule and refused to endorse the Scotland Act. The Callaghan government, and in particular Labour MPs such as Tam Dalyell and George Cunningham preferred to risk losing a general election rather than giving Scotland the assembly which it had voted for.

Labour soon lost a vote of confidence and were forced to call a General Election. Although they won in Scotland, English votes elected Margaret Thatcher as Britain's first woman Prime Minister. Although ex-Tory Prime Minister Lord Home had promised that the Conservatives would come up with a better assembly plan, one of the first acts of the Thatcher government was to repeal the Scotland Act.

Although Labour won the General Elections of 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992 in Scotland, the party lost each time in the rest of the UK and Scotland was governed by a Conservative government who had hardly enough MPs to appoint as Scottish Ministers, between 1979 and 1997.

It should not be forgotten that Labour's delegation to the Crowther/Kilbrandon Commission on the Constitution in 1970 had stated 'The Scottish Labour Party would actually prefer a Tory UK Government to a Labour controlled Scottish Parliament.'

Labour's Fairy Godmother must have been listening. The Scottish Labour Party got what it desired - and for 18 years Scotland suffered the consequences of the actions of Labour's Toom Tabards.

How Scotland voted, region by region

Region/Islands area	Yes Votes	% votes	% electorate	No Votes	% votes	% electorate	Turnout
Shetland Islands	2,020	27	14	5,466	73	36	50
Orkney Islands	2,104	28	15	5,439	72	39	54
Borders	20,746	40	27	30,780	60	40	67
Dumfries & Galloway	27,162	40	26	40,239	60	38	64
Grampian	94,944	48	28	101,485	52	30	58
Tayside	91,482	49	31	93,325	51	32	63
Lothian	187,221	50	33	186,421	50	33	66
Highland	44,973	51	33	43,274	49	32	65
Fife	86,252	54	35	74,436	46	30	65
Strathclyde	596,519	54	34	508,599	46	29	63
Central	71,296	55	36	59,105	45	30	66
Western Isles	6,218	56	28	4,933	44	22	50
Scotland	1,230,937	52	33*	1,153,502	48	31*	64*

*Percentage on register of 3,747,112 as adjusted by Secretary of State.

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