1997 referendum

Referendums Referendums put the onus on the voter in what is essentially a 'yes' or 'no' choice. Arguments put forward in favour of referendums are: 1. They are a very real form of direct democracy 2. They increase political participation; voting does not take place just every five years. 3. Referenda can be a check on "elective dictatorships" during a government's 5 years span. 4. Referenda provide a clear answer to a question the government might be 'asking'.

Referendums Arguments put forward against the use of referendums are: 1. Referenda are inconsistent with the belief in parliamentary sovereignty. 2. Issues might be too complex for a mere yes/no vote or for the public to understand. 3. The regular use of referenda could lead to apathy among the public. 4. There are effective alternatives : opinion polls and by-elections.

The 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.

Dates 1 March 1979: Wales – Welsh devolution referendum on whether there should be a Welsh Assembly (no) 11 September 1997: Scotland – Scottish devolution referenda on whether there should be a Scottish Parliament and whether the Scottish Parliament should have tax varying powers (both referendums received a yes vote) Devolution essentially means the transfer of powers from the UK parliament in London to assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast, and the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Scottish Devolution Scottish devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre- legislative referendum that was held in Scotland on 11 September 1997 It was over whether there was support for the creation of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers, and whether the Parliament should have tax-varying powers. A Labour manifesto commitment and was held in their first term after the 1997 election. Second referendum held in Scotland over the question of devolution, the first being in Turnout for the referendum was 60.2%.

Welsh Devolution The Welsh devolution referendum of 1997 held throughout Wales on 18 September 1997 To determine whether there was support for the creation of an assembly for Wales with devolved powers. Unlike the referendum in Scotland, there was no proposal for the assembly to have tax-varying powers. Turnout was 50.1%

1979 vs 1997 Scotland: Do you want the provisions of the Scotland Act 1978 to be put into effect. Wales: Do you want the provisions of the Wales Act 1978 to be put into effect. Scotland: ‘Do you agree that there should be Scottish parliament, Yes or No’ ‘Do you agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax- raising powers Yes or No’ Wales: ‘Do you agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly as proposed by the Government’

Spoilt Ballots Spoilt ballot papers are excluded from the calculations of turnout (number of valid votes divided by the electorate) but are shown at the bottom of each table. The number of spoilt ballots increased significantly in the 1997 referendum in Scotland (with roughly the same number of valid votes as in 1979). There were 11,986 spoilt papers on the Scottish Parliament question and 19,013 on the tax-varying powers question Compared with3,133 spoilt ballots in A large part of this increase is almost certainly due to misunderstandings amongst voters about requirements for completing the two separate ballot forms. The number of spoilt ballots in Wales rose much less dramatically from 3,309 in 1979 to 3,999 in 1997.

Agree : 1,775,045 (74.3%) Disagree : 614,400 (25.7%) ▲ Agree : 1,512,889 (63.5%) Disagree : 870,263 (36.5%) ▲ Results[edit]edit The result was 'Yes-Yes': the majority voted in favour of both proposals. Question 1[edit]edit Firstly the referendum asked voters: Unlike in the Welsh referendum, a large majority voted 'Yes' in every local authority. [3]Welsh referendum [3] Question 2[edit]edit Secondly the referendum asked: