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In-Depth Information
right-wing Scottish Party to create the
Scottish National Party
. he SNP achieved its
electoral breakthrough in 1967 when Winnie Ewing won Hamilton from Labour in a
by-election. he following year the SNP won 34 percent of the vote in local
government elections, and both the Labour and Conservative parties, wishing to head
off the Nationalists, began to work on schemes to give Scotland a measure of self-
government, the term
devolution
becoming common currency.
The Scottish referendum
he situation took a dynamic turn in 1974, when Labour were returned to power
with a wafer-thin majority. he SNP held seven seats, which gave them considerable
political leverage, and meant that devolution was firmly on the agenda. he SNP had
also run an excellent election campaign, concentrating on North Sea oil, now being
piped ashore in significant quantities. heir two most popular slogans, “England
expects ... Scotland's oil” and “Rich Scots or Poor Britons?”, seemed to have caught
the mood of Scotland.
In 1979 the Labour government, struggling to hold onto o
ce, put its devolution
proposals before the Scottish people in a
referendum
. he “yes” vote gained 33 percent,
the “no” vote 31 percent - but the required forty percent threshold wasn't reached. Not
for the first time, Scottish opinion had shifted away from home rule; the reluctance to
embrace it was based on uncertainty about the consequences, concerns about multi-
layered government and, in some areas, a fear that the assembly might be dominated by
the Clydeside conurbation.
Scotland under Thatcher
he incoming Conservative government of
Margaret Thatcher
set its face against any
form of devolution. It argued that the majority of Scots had voted for parties
committed to the Union - Labour, the Liberals and themselves - and that only a
minority supported the separation advocated by the SNP. At the same time, the
government asserted that any form of devolution would lead inevitably to the break-up
of the United Kingdom and that the devolution solutions put forward by other parties
would result inescapably in separation.
As the hatcher years rolled on, growing evidence suggested that few Scottish voters
accepted either this reasoning or the implication that Scots did not know what was
good for them. he Conservatives' support in Scotland was further eroded by their
introduction of the deeply unpopular
Poll Tax
, a form of local taxation that took little
account of income. he fact that it was imposed in Scotland a year earlier than in
England and Wales was the source of further resentment.
Devolution
Scotland's new political era began with the British general election of 1997, won by
Tony Blair's
Labour Party
. Under the stewardship of Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar,
the new Labour government swiftly organized a
referendum on devolution
for
September. he electorate responded with a clear endorsement: 75 percent voted for a
separate Scottish Parliament. he new parliament was given the power to initiate
legislation, and to pass bills without consulting Westminster. Within Scotland it
controlled education, health and the environment, while Westminster retained control
1961
1979
1996
1999
The US deploy
Polaris nuclear
missiles in Holy Loch.
Scottish referendum for
devolution fails to gain
required forty percent.
The Stone of Scone is
returned to Scotland.
Labour win the most
seats in Scotland's first-
ever general election.
