How did Scotland get an agreed independence referendum in 2014?
Scotland's 2014 vote was legal because two governments signed a deal first. A later attempt to hold one without it was ruled out by the UK Supreme Court.
Scotland held an independence referendum on 18 September 2014 because the UK government and the Scottish government agreed to it first. The vote asked "Should Scotland be an independent country?", and No won, with 55.3 percent against 44.7 percent for Yes. Turnout was 84.6 percent, the highest for any UK election or referendum since January 1910.
Votes in the 2014 Scottish referendum
% of votes
| Share of votes | |
|---|---|
| No | 55.3 % of votes |
| Yes | 44.7 % of votes |
The agreement mattered because of a legal problem. The constitution is a matter , so it was debated whether the Scottish Parliament had the power to legislate for a referendum on independence at all. In January 2012 the UK government offered to legislate to give it that power, providing the vote was "fair, legal and decisive". The two governments reached the Edinburgh Agreement in October 2012. Under it, the UK government drafted an granting the Scottish Parliament the powers to hold a referendum on or before 31 December 2014.
The two governments also agreed what the result would mean. The independence proposal required a to pass, and the UK government said that a Yes majority would be followed by a process of negotiations. All EU or Commonwealth citizens living in Scotland aged 16 or over could vote, so for the first time in Scotland 16- and 17-year-olds were on the roll.
The agreement was specific to that vote. In 2022 the Scottish government planned a second referendum, but the UK Supreme Court ruled on 23 November 2022 that the Scottish Parliament did not have the power to legislate for one.
Try it
How many votes does a turnout mean?
y = 4.3x + 0
Challenge · Set the electorate to 4.3 million, then read the line at a turnout of 0.85: about 3.6 million votes would be cast.
Quiz me
0/3
Recap
Scotland's 2014 vote was agreed first by both governments; the UK Supreme Court later ruled that Scotland's parliament could not hold another without such power.
💡 A trick to remember it · Shake hands first, vote second: Edinburgh's deal made the question legal before anyone cast a ballot.
Surprising fact · Turnout of 84.6% was the highest for any UK election or referendum since January 1910.
Connects to
- 🗳️ What is a referendum, and how is it different from a vote in parliament?
- 🗺️ What is secession, and who decides whether a region can leave a country?
- 🇬🇧 How does a country leave the European Union, and what happened when Britain did?
- 🏰 Why did Scotland, far poorer than England, produce thinkers like Hume and Adam Smith?
- 📜 Did one 1648 peace treaty really invent the modern state?
Sources (2)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (17 claims) cites at least one of these.