In 1997, a majority of the Scottish electorate voted to re-establish a parliament for Scotland. In this talk, BBC Scotland Political Editor Brian Taylor draws on his experience in reporting the referendum to show how party political aims and popular opinion came together to create this historic...

Acting both as a historian and an eye witness, Professor Christopher Harvie assesses the negative outcome of the 1979 referendum. He highlights the role of party politics and considers how the Thatcher era might have been different for Scotland with an Assembly. Chris Harvie is a former MSP and...

What role have referenda played in Scottish political culture before the referendums of 1979 and 1997? Irene Maver shows how burgh and council governments from the mid-nineteenth century used voter plebiscites to determine local opinion on questions ranging from investment in free libraries to...