Welsh devolution referendum, 1997

Do you agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly as proposed by the Government?

Location

Date

18 September 1997

Results
	Votes	%
Yes	559,419	7001503000000000000♠50.30%
No	552,698	7001497000000000000♠49.70%
Valid votes	1,112,117	7001996400000000000♠99.64%
Invalid or blank votes	3,999	6999360000000000000♠0.36%
Total votes	1,116,116	100.00%
Registered voters/turnout	2,222,533	7001502200000000000♠50.22%

Results by unitary authorities

Yes — No

Saturation of colour reflects the strength of the vote.

The Welsh devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislative referendum held in Wales on 18 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of an assembly for Wales with devolved powers. The referendum was a Labour manifesto commitment and was held in their first term after the 1997 election under the provisions of the Referendums (Scotland & Wales) Act 1997. Unlike the referendum in Scotland a week earlier, there was no proposal for the assembly to have tax-varying powers. This was the second referendum held in Wales over the question of devolution, the first was held in 1979 and was defeated by a large majority.

The referendum resulted in a small majority in favour, which led to the passing Government of Wales Act 1998 and the formation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.

A referendum was held in 1979 (with a parallel referendum in Scotland) proposing the creation of a Welsh Assembly, under James Callaghan's Labour government. The referendum stipulated that a Welsh Assembly would be created if supported by 50% of votes cast and 40% of the total electorate. The Scottish referendum achieved the first condition but not the second, while the Welsh referendum was defeated by almost a 4:1 majority. Indeed, although the Labour Party had committed itself to devolution in 1974 (following the advice of the Royal Commission on the Constitution) several Welsh Labour MPs (including Neil Kinnock) were very much opposed.

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