Abstract

On 5 May 2011, at the election for the Holyrood Parliament, the Scottish National Party won 69 of the 129 seats. This success gave the SNP government a mandate to hold a referendum, long promised, allowing Scotland to secede from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Holyrood chose 18 September 2014 for the referendum when, with an astonishing 85% of the registered voters taking part, 44.7% favoured seceding from the Union, 55.3% remained loyal. This article discusses the constitutional significance of the referendum and its legal and political consequences.