Editing 1997 Scottish devolution referendum (section)

==Reaction to the result==

Professor Tom Devine, academic at the [[University of Edinburgh]], dubbed the referendum result "the most significant development in Scottish political history since the Union of 1707".<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-41189455 |title=Scottish devolution referendum: The birth of a parliament |first=Andrew |last=Kerr |date=8 September 2017 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=29 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129022824/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-41189455 |url-status=live }}</ref> As well as the "Yes" campaign leader stated "it does, I hope, end much argument and dispute". [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] claimed that "the era of big centralised government is over".<ref name="BBC News, BBC 2018">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-41228211/scottish-devolution-vote-from-the-archive |title=Scottish devolution vote from the archive |date=11 September 2017 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=23 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123153245/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-41228211/scottish-devolution-vote-from-the-archive |url-status=live }}</ref>

The "Yes" campaign leaders [[Donald Dewar]] ([[Scottish Labour]]) and [[Alex Salmond]] ([[Scottish National Party]]) held different views over the devolution proposal. However, they put their political differences aside immediately after the vote in celebration. Despite this, the SNP's calls for independence soon reignited with SNP leader [[Alex Salmond]] claiming that there would be an independent Scotland within his lifetime. The "No" campaign did not share this optimism and feared that this vote was a catalyst towards the break-up of the Union.<ref name="BBC News, BBC 2018"/>

When the [[Secretary of State for Scotland]], [[Donald Dewar]], went back to [[London]] to implement the referendum result, he found the Whitehall civil service unwilling to give up powers and doubting that matters over and above those previously handled by the Scottish Office (such as education, health, transport, police and housing) should be politically devolved. Detail was also lacking in that the Scottish Constitutional Convention had failed to address issues such as the role of [[Elizabeth II|The Queen]] or aspects of tax-varying powers.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>