From Home Rule to Devolution

By Ian Stewart

'There's a joke in the Scottish (Labour) Party about our 1918 manifesto. Then we promised Home Rule, proportional representation and the prohibition of alcohol. And in more than seventy years we have managed to secure none of them.'

Gordon Brown, Scottish Daily Record - 8th April 1993

A devolved Scottish Assembly has been a long time in coming to fruition.

The commitment to Scottish home rule first took concrete shape in the nineteenth century when, in 1871, the Liberal politician, William Ewart Gladstone stated that if Ireland was to be granted home rule, then the same should apply to Scotland. In 1886, Gladstone introduced a home rule bill for Ireland thus helping to prompt the formation of the Scottish Home Rule Association.

In 1920, the Scots National League, in favour of Scottish independence, was formed. In 1928, this was superseded by the formation of the National Party of Scotland, which, in 1934, became the Scottish National Party. In 1942, the SNP altered their previous stance, which had been the establishment of a devolved Scottish assembly, to that of support for all-out independence, an objective they hold to this day.

In April 1945, Dr Robert McIntyre won a parliamentary seat at a by-election in Motherwell but he lost this at the general election which was held on the 5th July 1945.

Fast forward to 2nd November 1967. The SNP candidate, Dr Winifred Margaret 'Winnie' Ewing, won a by-election in Hamilton and became Scotland's first Nationalist MP for 20 years. The result was a shock for the other Scottish parties and especially for Labour who had taken 71.2% of the vote at the previous General Election held on the 31st March 1966.

The following year, the Conservative Leader, Ted Heath, made a commitment to advancing Scottish home rule at the party's Perth conference, the so-called 'Declaration of Perth.' However, the Nationalists showed poorly in the 1970 General Election, when they lost Hamilton and took only one seat, the Western Isles, and Heath's proposal was quickly shelved.

The General Election which was held on 28th February 1974 resulted in no one political party having an outright majority. The Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, having taken power after the February election, decided to return to the polls in October in an attempt to win a majority. He did, Labour were returned with a tiny majority of three (3). The table below shows the Scottish results for that election.

10th October 1974 Election	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Labour	1,000,581	36.28 %	41
Scottish National Party	839,617	30.44 %	11
Conservative & Unionist	681,327	24.70 %	16
Liberal	228,855	8.30 %	3
Others	7,721	0.28 %	0

Note the number of votes and the percentage. The SNP got 30% of the vote in Scotland to the Conservatives 24%, but only won 11 seats to the Conservatives' 16. Labour retained the majority of Scottish seats on a minority vote. Nevertheless it had been a very close call. On 35% of the vote, the SNP would have swept the board and won more than half the seats in Scotland.

Due to a series of by-election defeats, by 1977 the Labour government's tiny majority of three had vanished and they had no majority at all. The government, now led by James Callaghan, was therefore vulnerable to pressure from both the Scottish National Party (11 seats) and Plaid Cymru (3 seats).

In reaction to what was perceived as growing support for Scottish independence, the United Kingdom government had set up the Royal Commission which is now usually referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission (1969-1973). As a result of their report (1974), the Labour government brought forward proposals to establish a Scottish Assembly. In November 1977 a Scotland Bill providing for the establishment of a Scottish Assembly, with very limited legislative powers, was introduced.

Some Labour MPs, including several Scottish MPs, opposed their party's policy (and promise) of devolution for Scotland by voting against the implementation of the 1978 legislation. George Cunningham, a Scot who was a London Labour MP, introduced the infamous amendment whereby a simple majority of 'YES' votes in the referendum would be insufficient and these would also have to constitute at least 40% of the Scottish electorate. Basically, abstentions were to be counted as 'NO' votes.

When it came to the campaigning stage, there was a huge degree of internal dissent within the Labour party. There was an active Labour 'Vote No' campaign in Scotland, led by the MPs, Brian Wilson, Robin Cook and Tam Dalyell.

The referendum was held on the 1st March 1979 and, despite a turnout of over 60% (normally regarded as a high proportion of voters) and the referendum result being a narrow majority in favour of devolution, 1,230,937 (51.6%) voted in favour with 1,153,502 (48.4%) voting against.

The 'YES' vote only represented 32.9% of the total registered electorate thus the 40% hurdle was not reached. Accordingly, devolution was not enacted. The government immediately tabled a motion to repeal the Act and the decision to drop devolution for Scotland led to the Scottish National Party withdrawing its support for the government.

A subsequent 'vote of no confidence', tabled by the Conservative Leader, Margaret Thatcher resulted in the defeat of the Callaghan government by 311 votes to 310 on the 28th March 1979 and an election was called. On polling day, the 3rd May 1979, the Conservatives won with a 5.2% swing and 339 seats compared to Labour's 269.

On the 26th July 1979, the Scotland Bill was finally repealed.

It was the early 1990s before the subject came back on the political agenda. Labour were in opposition in Westminster and their leader, John Smith QC, held the view that devolution was 'Scotland's unfinished business' and at the 1993 party conference, committed any future Labour government to establishing a Scottish Parliament.

Regrettably, John Smith died, at the age of 55 years, on the 12th May 1994. He has been described by many as 'the best Prime Minister we never had' and the Labour Party headquarters in London were renamed as John Smith House in tribute.

Editors note : I had the privilege of knowing John Smith personally, something for which I will always be grateful. If there can ever be such a thing as 'an honest politician', it was John. It was reported that there was weeping in the chamber of the House of Commons when the news of his death was announced, I know that I did and, having voted Labour for 30 years, never did so again.

When Tony Blair was elected as the new Leader on 21st July 1994, he had little choice but to follow through on Smith's policy, driven as it was by John's close friend Donald Dewar, the man who, five years later, was to become Scotland's first First Minister.

In 1997, 'Devolved power in Scotland and Wales' was back in the Labour election manifesto. They won the election which was held on 1st May 1997 and, on 11th September 1997, the people of Scotland voted on a two question referendum : [Results shown in brackets]

1. I agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament (74.3%)
2. I do not agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament (25.7%)
and
1. I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers (63.5%)
2. I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers (36.5%)

As a result of the vote, the Scotland Act was passed on 17th November 1998, receiving royal assent two days later on 19th November 1998.

On the 12th May 1999, the First Meeting of The Scottish Parliament was held.
[By one of those curious coincidences, this was the fifth anniversary of John Smith's death.]

Dr Winnie Ewing (ex-MP, ex-MEP and now an MSP), as the oldest qualified Member, chaired the inaugural meeting and said, 'I have the opportunity to make a short speech and I want to begin with the words that I have always wanted either to say or to hear someone else say' :

'The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on the 25th March 1707, is hereby reconvened.'