What happened at the Scottish independence referendum?
After winning a majority in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, the Scottish National Party (SNP) sought permission from the UK Government to hold a referendum on whether or not the people of Scotland would like to become independent from the UK.
The UK Parliament consented to allow the referendum and the final decision was made to hold a referendum on Scottish independence on 18th September 2014.
What were the results of the independence referendum?
The people of Scotland were given the opportunity to have their say on whether Scotland should become an independent country.
After all the votes were counted from each of Scotland's 32 local authorities the final result was:
- No – 2m votes (55 per cent of total vote)
- Yes – 1.62m votes (45 per cent of total vote)
Analysis of the independence referendum
Turnout was a record-breaking 85% with the majority of people (55%) voting for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
The vote was counted by each local authority area. In four of Scotland's 32 local authorities there was a majority in favour of a 'Yes' vote, these were – Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire.
Government statistics support the view that the 'Yes' campaign was more successful in the local authority areas where poverty and unemployment was higher. The opposite was true for the 'No' campaign. The 'No' vote was greater in local authority areas where there was less poverty and unemployment.
Exit polls suggest younger voters and those local authorities with higher levels of people born in Scotland were more likely to vote 'Yes'. The opposite was true for 'No' voters. Where local authorities contained higher numbers of voters from outside Scotland, eg English or other Europeans residing in Scotland, or where the population was older, the 'No' campaign did better.
