Editing Scottish Parliament (section)

===1979 devolution referendum===

During this time, the discovery of [[North Sea oil|oil]] in the [[North Sea]] and the following "[[It's Scotland's oil]]" campaign of the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP) resulted in rising support for Scottish independence, as well as the SNP. The party argued that the revenues from the oil were not benefitting Scotland as much as they should.<ref name="Devolution" /> The combined effect of these events led to [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] Wilson committing his government to some form of devolved legislature in 1974.<ref name="Devolution" /> Under the terms of the [[Scotland Act 1978]], an elected assembly would be set up in Edinburgh if the public approved it in a [[1979 Scottish devolution referendum|referendum be held on 1 March 1979]].<ref name = "1979 referendum"/> A narrow majority of 51.6% to 48.4% voted in favour of a Scottish Assembly, but the Act also required that at least 40% of the total electorate vote in favour of the proposal. As the turnout was only 63.6%, the vote in favour represented only 32.9% of the eligible voting population, and the Assembly was not established.<ref name = "1979 referendum">{{Cite news |year=1997 |title=The 1979 Referendums |publisher=The Holyrood Inquiry |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/devolution/scotland/briefing/79referendums.shtml |access-date=21 August 2006 |archive-date=11 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511072817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/devolution/scotland/briefing/79referendums.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

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Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, demand for a Scottish Parliament grew, in part because the [[government of the United Kingdom]] was controlled by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], while Scotland itself elected relatively few Conservative MPs.<ref name="Devolution" /> In the aftermath of the 1979 referendum defeat, the [[Campaign for a Scottish Assembly]] was initiated as a [[pressure group]], leading to the 1989 [[Scottish Constitutional Convention]] with various organisations such as [[Religion in Scotland|Scottish churches]], [[List of political parties in Scotland|political parties]] and representatives of industry taking part. Publishing its blueprint for devolution in 1995, the Convention provided much of the basis for the structure of the Parliament.<ref>{{cite web |last=Peter Fraser |date=15 October 2004 |title=Events Prior to 1 May 1997 |url=http://scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-02.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024190756/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/holyrood/inquiry/sp205-02.htm |archive-date=24 October 2004 |access-date=17 November 2006 |publisher=The Holyrood Inquiry}}</ref>