Now or Never!

A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum

Tom Chidwick

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Edition: 1
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Campaigns & Elections
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350500839
• Index: Politics & International Relations

On 1 March 1979, voters went to the polls in Scotland's first national referendum to decide whether to establish a Scottish Assembly, nearly three centuries after the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament in 1707. Held just two months before the general election that brought Margaret Thatcher to power, the referendum was Scotland's first opportunity to determine the constitutional question that had dogged its politics for nearly a century and, as in 1997 and 2014, it shaped the country's public life for a generation.

With both 'Yes' and 'No' campaigners believing that it was "Now or Never", the referendum forged extraordinary and fleeting compacts between politicians and activists from different political parties. Musicians, sportsmen and celebrities joined the campaign trail, as did poets, clergymen, women's groups and City financiers. Campaigners dressed as William Wallace and 'Major Block' staged mock duels in major cities, while others organised dances and Burns Suppers and encouraged students to "Rock against Devolution".

In this first modern history of the referendum, Tom Chidwick reveals the full story of the referendum held in the dying days of James Callaghan's Labour government and asks what contemporary policymakers and politicians can learn from Scotland's failure to secure an Assembly in 1979.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Imprint Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction ‘Old Songs and Lost Romance’
• 1 ‘Retreating from Straightforward Unionism’ Devolution Unleashed
• 2 ‘There shall be a Scottish Assembly’ Legislation to Referendum
• 3 ‘All Say Yes or Tinkerbell Will Die’ The ‘Yes’ Campaigns
• 4 ‘There’s NO Tomorrow for Scotland’ The ‘No’ Campaigns
• 5 ‘Roaming in the Gloaming’ Referendum and Results Day
• Epilogue ‘Dissatisfied, Impatient and Disaffected’
• Appendix 1 The Referendum Result, 1 March 1979
• Appendix 2 ‘We Are Voting No’
• Appendix 3 The Referendum Rant, 26 January 1979
• Notes
• Select Bibliography
• Index