Scottish devolution at 20: hooray for Holyrood?

Scotland voted for devolution back in 1997 - but its political future now looks uncertain

Scotland’s Saltire flag draped over a statue of Scottish novelist and playwright Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh
Scotland’s Saltire flag draped over a statue of Scottish novelist and playwright Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh
(Image credit: Lesly Martin/AFP/Getty Images)

Twenty years ago today, Scotland voted 3:1 for devolution in a referendum delivered by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Yet while today there are no calls for a return to direct rule, and while the Scottish Conservatives have made peace with the existence of Holyrood, the future of Scottish politics looks in many ways less certain than it did in 1997.

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