Scotland votes NO in historic independence referendum polls

Alex Salmond accepted defeat but reinstated his calls for Scotland to have more powers in the United Kingdom.

By Dave Lancaster |

09:11 19 September 2014

Scotland has voted NO, keeping the United Kingdom united.

The news comes after millions took to the polls to decide the fate of Scotland on Thursday evening with the final count coming in on Friday morning. A YES would have made Scotland its own country and free to make all of its own decisions without being tied into the rest of Britain. But the Scottish people ultimately decided that the benefits of staying with the rest of the UK outweighed the cons.

While he stated that the promises by all three major political parties to grant Scotland more powers would be "honoured in full", Prime Minister David Cameron said the poll result was "decisive". He stated: "Now the debate has been settled for a generation, or as Alex Salmond has said: 'Perhaps for a lifetime'.

"So there can be no disputes, no re-runs; we have heard the will of the Scottish people."

Alex Salmond had hoped to break the union that has lasted 307 years but stated: "I accept the verdict and expect all people to follow suit."

 

SCOTLAND VOTES NO

Here's the count:

• No 2,001,926
• Yes 1,617,989
  
  
• Electorate 4,283,392
• Turnout 84.59%
• Rejected ballots 3,429

 

Council	Electorate	Yes	No
Glasgow	486,219	53.49%	46.51%
Edinburgh	378,012	38.90%	61.10%
Fife	302,165	44.95%	55.05%
North Lanarkshire	268,704	51.07%	48.93%
South Lanarkshire	261,157	45.33%	54.67%
Aberdeenshire	206,486	39.64%	60.36%
Highland	190,778	47.08%	52.92%
Aberdeen City	175,745	41.39%	58.61%
West Lothian	138,226	44.82%	55.18%
Renfrewshire	134,735	47.19%	52.81%
Falkirk	122,457	46.53%	53.47%
Dumfries & Galloway	122,036	34.33%	65.67%
Perth & Kinross	120,015	39.81%	60.19%
Dundee City	118,729	57.35%	42.65%
North Ayrshire	113,923	48.99%	51.01%
East Ayrshire	99,664	47.22%	52.78%
Scottish Borders	95,533	33.44%	66.56%
South Ayrshire	94,881	42.13%	57.87%
Angus	93,551	43.68%	56.32%
East Dunbartonshire	86,836	38.80%	61.20%
East Lothian	81,945	38.28%	61.72%
Moray	75,170	42.44%	57.56%
East Renfrewshire	72,981	36.81%	63.19%
Argyll & Bute	72,002	41.48%	58.52%
West Dunbartonshire	71,109	53.96%	46.04%
Midlothian	69,617	43.70%	56.30%
Stirling	69,033	40.23%	59.77%
Inverclyde	62,481	49.92%	50.08%
Clackmannanshire	39,972	46.20%	53.80%
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	22,908	46.58%	53.42%
Shetland Islands	18,516	36.29%	63.71%
Orkney Islands	17,806	32.80%	67.20%