-
Scotland joins the United Kingdom
This is the starting point of Scotland and their quest for independance. This was the start of the United Kingdom, and it started with only Scotland and England.There were many attempts to combine the nations prior to the act of union that was agreed uppon in 1706. Many citizens felt that the union would help to bring Scotland out of its finacial crisis. England even bribed the Scottish government and their citizens because £20,000 (£240,000 Scots) were given to Scotland and distributed within. -
The Union with Ireland Act
This act united th current United Kingdom, which was England and Scotland at the time, with Ireland. Before the union act was passed Ireland had been in a personal union with England dating back to 1541. Following the beginning of the peronal union with Britain, Ireland declaired that King Henry the 8th of England is the also be the King of Ireland. The final passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was achieved in part according to contemporary documents through bribes from England. -
Scottish Home Rule
A Scottish Home Rule bill was first presented to parliament in 1913, but its progress was soon ended as Parliament focused on the First World War. Scotland did not resist central rule, but there was still a demand for Scottish home rule. After Scotland was denied its home rule it did not violently react, however Ireland did not take the denial as lightly, they fought a War of Independence to get their home rule. -
Scottish National Party is fromed
The Scottish National Party is formed(SNP), and is heavily in favour of Scotlands independance. The SNP was formed in 1934 through the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, with Robert Graham as its first president. The SNP first won a parliamentary seat at the Motherwell by-election in 1945, but Robert McIntyre MP lost the seat at the general election three months later. They next won a seat in 1967 with Winnie Ewing getting a seat. May 2011, the SNP won a majority. -
Scottish National Party won a seat
This was the first time the SNP won, and held a seat, with Winnie Ewing. Previouly in 1945 Robert McIntyre, who was representing the SNP, won a seat, but he lost it three months later. This was huge step in Scolands independance vote later on, because that vote was mainly pushed by members of the SNP to free Scotland from the United Kingdom. -
Declaration of Perth
The 1970 General Election was won by the Conservative Party, and Heath became Prime Minister. However, the electoral weakness of the Nationalists removed the political pressure for devolution, which caused it to slip from the agenda. The two general elections of 1974 saw the return of a minority Labour Government and advances by the Nationalists, they won 7 seats in the February election and 11 in the October election. -
Oil discovered just off the coast
The discovery off the coast of Scotland made many citizens debate over Scotlands independance from the rest of the world. Many citizens felt that that oil belonged to Scotland and Scotland only, but since Scotland is part of the United Kingdom they had to let other powers come in and they shared the oil with the other powers. The Scottish people felt that the oil is rightfully their countries and that was a key part in the SNP getting voted in and starting the vote for independance. -
First Devolution Referendum
This brought the SNP to national prominence, leading to Edward Heath's 1968 Declaration of Perth and the discovery of North Sea oil off the east coast of Scotland helped to trigger the Devolution Referendum. The result of the referendum in Scotland was a narrow majority in favour of devolution 52% to 48%. The SNP group was reduced from 11 MPs to 2 in the 1979 general election, while devolution was opposed by the Conservative governments led by Thatcher and John Major. -
Scottish Constitutional Convention
After the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly was voted to supersede, the Scottish Constitutional Convention was then put in place to replace the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly. The CSA was put to help choose the best government. Initially the Scottish National Party (SNP) participated, but the then party leader Gordon Wilson, along with Jim Sillars, decided to withdraw the SNP from participation owing to the convention's unwillingness to discuss Scottish independence as a constitutional option. -
Second Devolution Referendum
The Labour Party won the 1997 general election and Donald Dewar as Secretary of State for Scotland agreed to the proposals for a Scottish Parliament. A referendum was held in September and 74.3% of those who voted approved the devolution plan (44.87% of the electorate). The Parliament of the United Kingdom subsequently approved the Scotland Act 1998 which created an elected Scottish Parliament with control over most domestic policy. -
Scotland Act 1998
The Act sets up mechanisms to resolve disputes over questions about legislative competence of the Parliament and powers of the Executive. It also allows the powers of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive to be adjusted over time by agreement between both Parliaments by means of an Order in Council. The first elections were held in May 1999 and the Scottish Parliament and Executive assumed their full powers on 1 July 1999. -
Devolved Scottish Parlement is put in place
The Scotland Act 1998 (an Act of the UK Parliament) created a Scottish Parliament and passed to it the powers to make laws on a range of issues. These powers were extended by the Scotland Act 2012. The issues upon which the Scottish Parliament can make laws are known as devolved matters.
However, some issues – in general, those with a UK-wide or international impact – remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament alone. -
Scottish Independence Convention
The Independence Convention is an umbrella grouping for supporters of Scottish independence. The Convention had described four immediate questions that they intended to address; what are the specific benefits of national self-determination for Scotland? What will an independant scotland look like? How will an independant Scotland act? How will the switch between devolution and full independence be managed? -
2010 Draft Bill
Under the Laws put in place of the bill, the following people were eligitable voters:
-British citizens who were resident in Scotland
-citizens of other Commonwealth countries who were resident in Scotland
-citizens of other European Union countries who were resident in Scotland
-members of the House of Lords who were resident in Scotland
-Service/Crown personnel serving in the UK
-British Armed Forces -
The Vote Occured
The resaults of the vote were counted and 55.3% of voters answered "No" and 44.7% answered "Yes". The voter trunout was 84.5%. Since the "No" vote won Scotland was denied the chance to leave the United Kingdom and still remain a part of the UK today. -
Independance Referendum
The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, setting out the arrangements for this referendum, was passed by the Scottish Parliament in November 2013, following an agreement between the Scottish and the United Kingdom governments, and was enacted as the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013. To pass, the independence proposal required a simple majority. With some exceptions, all European Union (EU) or Commonwealth citizens resident in Scotland aged 16 or over could vote, a total of 4.3 million