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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

14. The Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014

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Abstract

The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1960s was followed by significant support for the pro-independence SNP. A devolved Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, which unionists hoped would undermine support for independence. However, in 2011 the SNP secured an overall majority, and the UK government accepted that an independence referendum should be held. While there were some disagreements about the rules, there were few grounds on which to question the legitimacy of a contest whose outcome both sides were committed to respecting and which secured the highest turnout since the advent of the mass franchise. Although a majority voted to remain in the UK, support for independence was much higher than expected when the referendum was called. The result triggered an increase in the powers of the devolved parliament, saw the SNP come to dominate Scotland’s Commons representation, and failed to end the debate about independence.

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Footnotes
1
Elections to the Scottish Parliament are held under a system whereby voters cast two votes, one for an individual constituency MSP and one for a party list. The figure quoted here is for the constituency vote, where the structure of the ballot is similar to that in election to the House of Commons.
 
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Metadata
Title
The Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014
Author
John Curtice
Copyright Year
2021
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55803-1_14