The independence referendum
Scotland votes on whether to become an independent country; after an extraordinary campaign with record turnout, 55.3% vote No and 44.7% Yes.
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
- Scottish Social Attitudes Survey — ScotCen / National Centre for Social Research, NatCen Social Research
- Devolution in the UK — James Mitchell, Manchester University Press (2009)
How it came about
After the SNP won an outright majority at Holyrood in 2011, the UK and Scottish governments signed the Edinburgh Agreement in October 2012, allowing a legal, binding referendum. The question was “Should Scotland be an independent country?” For the first time in a major UK vote, 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to take part.
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
- Devolution in the UK — James Mitchell, Manchester University Press (2009)
The campaign
At the start, polls showed Yes far behind, at around a third. The two-year campaign turned into an extraordinary popular movement: town-hall meetings, grassroots groups such as Women for Independence and Radical Independence, a flood of blue Saltire-waving rallies, and fierce argument at kitchen tables, in pubs and online. The No campaign, Better Together, brought Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats together, warning about the currency, pensions, EU membership and oil revenues. In the final fortnight one poll put Yes ahead, and the three main UK party leaders signed “the Vow” in the Daily Record, promising extensive new powers for Holyrood.
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
The result
On 18 September 2014, 84.6% of the registered electorate voted, the highest turnout in a UK-wide or Scottish vote since universal suffrage. No won by 55.3% to 44.7%, a margin of about 384,000 votes. Glasgow, Dundee, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire voted Yes; the other 28 council areas voted No. Older voters and those born outside Scotland leaned heavily to No; younger and working-class voters leaned to Yes.
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
- Scottish Social Attitudes Survey — ScotCen / National Centre for Social Research, NatCen Social Research
After
Alex Salmond resigned as First Minister and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon. Paradoxically the losing side surged: SNP membership multiplied, and in the 2015 general election the party won 56 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats, almost wiping out Labour, Scotland’s dominant party for half a century. The Smith Commission led to the Scotland Act 2016, which devolved more tax and welfare powers.
- Devolution in the UK — James Mitchell, Manchester University Press (2009)
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
The Brexit vote two years later transformed the argument. In 2022 the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament could not legislate for a new referendum without Westminster’s consent. Support for independence in the Scottish Social Attitudes survey, 27% when devolution began in 1999, stood at 47% in 2024. The country remains split almost down the middle, and many people who voted on either side in 2014 still feel it intensely.
- Scottish Social Attitudes Survey — ScotCen / National Centre for Social Research, NatCen Social Research
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
Scotland is a nation that should make its own decisions. Independence would end governments Scotland did not vote for, allow a fairer, greener society, and keep Scotland in Europe. The No vote was won on promises, including on EU membership, that were later broken.
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
Scotland is stronger in the UK: shared currency, pensions, defence and a single market with its biggest customer, and an identity that has long been both Scottish and British. The referendum was billed as "once in a generation", and the result should be respected.
- Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present — T. M. Devine, Allen Lane (2016)
- Scottish Independence Referendum: Report on the referendum held on 18 September 2014 — The Electoral Commission (2014)
Why it matters today
The referendum is the defining political event of modern Scotland. It energised a generation, split families and friendships along a Yes/No line that still shapes how people vote, and left the question unresolved: support for independence has hovered close to half ever since. Whether, when and how there should be another vote remains the great argument of Scottish politics.