Editing 1979 Scottish devolution referendum (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:Yes for a stronger Scotland Logo 1979.svg|thumb|Logo used by the Labour Yes campaign.]]
[[File:Scotland Says No Logo.svg|thumb|Logo used by the No campaign.]]
The result was a majority in favour of devolution. A total of 1,230,937 (51.6%)<ref name="remember"/> voted at the referendum in favour of an Assembly, a majority of about 77,400 over those voting against. However, this total represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate as a whole.<ref name="remember"/>  The Labour government held that the Act's requirements had not been met, and that devolution would therefore not be introduced for Scotland.

In the wake of the referendum the disappointed supporters of the bill conducted a protest campaign under the slogan "Scotland said 'yes{{'"}}, officially launched in a Glasgow hotel on 7 March 1979.<ref>"Liberals Get tough on devolution" By William Russel. ''The Glasgow Herald'' – 8 March 1979.</ref> In particular, the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP) carried out a survey of the electoral register in the Edinburgh Central constituency. This appeared to show that the register was so out of date that even in an area where major support for a "yes" vote might be expected, achievement of 40% of the electorate was virtually unattainable. This was because the majority of electors lived in older tenements or newer Council blocks of flats where flat numbers were not specified. The work of electoral registration staff to obtain an accurate current register was almost impossible.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Under the terms of the Act, it could then be repealed by a [[Statutory instrument]] to be approved by Parliament. The government's decision to abandon devolution led the SNP to withdraw its support for the Labour government. It was in a minority in Parliament and had relied on deals with the smaller parties, including the SNP, for its survival. After establishing that the Liberals and the SNP would vote against the government in a confidence motion, the Conservative opposition tabled a [[1979 vote of no confidence in the Callaghan ministry|motion on 28 March]]. The government was defeated by one vote, and a [[1979 United Kingdom general election|UK general election]] was subsequently called. This was won by the Conservatives, and Parliament voted to repeal the Act on 20 June 1979.<ref name="remember"/>

A [[1997 Scottish devolution referendum|second referendum]] to create a devolved legislature in Scotland was held in 1997 under a newly elected Labour government, which led to the enactment of the [[Scotland Act 1998]] and the creation of a devolved [[Scottish Parliament]] in 1999.