Unsettled Will : Cultural Engagement and Scottish Independence

Abstract

The phrase ‘the settled will of the Scottish people’ was originally invoked by John Smith, leader of the Labour party from 1992 till his death in 1994, but it was used to counterbalance the ‘settled will’ of many Labour politicians in Scotland that devolution was a distraction from the main business of British politics, and likely to encourage rather than to nullify the appeal of the Scottish National Party. But what Cameron saw as a ‘settled will’ in Scotland in 2014 was to be radically challenged in the general election of May 2015, when the SNP won all but three seats in Scotland and Labour lost 40 of its 41 seats. Had the electorate decided to punish Labour for working with the Tories in the ‘Better Together’ campaign ? Or was an overwhelming majority for the SNP a signal that Scots had changed their minds, and now did want independence ? Or was it the psephological consequence of the 45 % who had voted ‘Yes’ committing to the SNP, while the 55 % who had voted ‘No’ were split across a variety of parties ? Was the overwhelming SNP majority a call for a second referendum, or was the ‘settled will’ of the majority still for the Union ?