Scotland stepped back from the brink of ending the 307-year-old union
with England and Wales and was on track to remain part of the United
Kingdom by a comfortable margin.
With more than half of Scotland's local authorities having declared
including the major cities of Glasgow and Aberdeen, an estimated 55%
of voters were expected to reject Alex Salmond's prospectus for
independence.
But the yes campaign scored a handful of notable successes, succeeding
in the largest city of Glasgow by 53% to 47%, winning 54% in West
Dunbartonshire and a convincing 57% win in Dundee.
The no camp won victories in its strongholds of East Lothian, Orkney,
and Shetland, but also in areas that could have gone to the yes
campaign, including Falkirk, Inverclyde, Eilean Siar and
Clackmannanshire. Stirling, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Angus,
Dumfries and Galloway and Midlothian also voted no.
Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy leader of the SNP, conceded that the
independence campaign was facing defeat. She said: "There isn't a yes
vote tonight. We will be deeply disappointed but I have also been
exhilarated by this campaign."
(Photo: No campaign supporters react to a declaration in their favour,
at the Better Together Campaign headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland.)
Yet that result raises the risk of further turmoil, with Tories in
Westminster threatening to revolt against David Cameron's late and
potentially vital vow to quickly increase the Scottish parliament's
powers while protecting its spending.
David Cameron and the Queen will both move to calm tensions when they
deliver statements on Friday. The prime minister will seek early in
the day, in the words of one cabinet minister, to "cement in" the no
vote by outlining how he will deliver the deepening of Scotland's
devolution settlement, including handing greater powers over tax and
welfare, to Holyrood.
The Queen, who has monitored the referendum with interest, will make a
written statement on Friday afternoon. It is understood that her
remarks will focus on reconciliation.
The prime minister wants to move fast to show that the three main UK
party leaders will live up to their commitments made during the
referendum campaign to deliver what Gordon Brown called Home Rule
within the UK.
Ministers believe it is important to move quickly to avoid a repeat
of the 1980 referendum in Quebec.
The triumphalist behaviour of Ontario fuelled the separatist cause
that nearly succeeded in a second referendum in 1995.
But Michael Gove, the chief whip, made clear that greater protections
would have to be offered to protect the interest of English, Welsh and
Northern Irish MPs.
Despite the margin of the no campaign's victory, Alex Salmond will now
press for a substantial shift in power from Westminster to Holyrood,
after the widely praised independence campaign - branded the "greatest
in Scottish history" by the first minister, came within only five
points of victory.
Salmond, who appeared to realise defeat was imminent by cancelling an
expected appearance at his local count, for Aberdeenshire, is poised
to demand that Scotland be ceded sweeping tax powers, buoyed by the
significant surge in backing for independence.
He watched the first results from television at his home in Strichen,
Aberdeenshire, before flying down by private jet from Aberdeen airport
to Edinburgh, his disappointment tempered only by a substantial yes
vote in Dundee, with 57% voting yes.
For the no campaign there was relief: a spate of authoritative polls
in the final days of the campaign had said the vote was on a knife
edge, bringing Yes Scotland within touching distance of victory after
a dramatic surge in support.
Labour's exit polling in 30 out of Scotland's 32 councils suggested
they were on course to win by 55% to 45% - a finding that the early
results appeared to confirm.
In mid-August, the two campaigns had been 14 points apart - that gap
suddenly closed to just six points, to four and then two. No camp
strategists were nervous that the very high turnout, which hit 90% in
some areas, could give yes a very narrow victory.
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