1979 Welsh devolution referendum

1979 Welsh devolution referendum

1 March 1979 (1979-03-01)
Do you want the Provisions of the Wales Act 1978 to be put into effect?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 243,048 20.26% No 956,330 79.74% Valid votes 1,199,378 99.72% Invalid or blank votes 3,309 0.28% Total votes 1,202,687 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 2,038,048 59.01%
Results by county

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The 1979 Welsh devolution referendum was a post-legislative referendum held on 1 March 1979 (Saint David's Day) to decide whether there was sufficient support for a Welsh Assembly among the Welsh electorate. The referendum was held under the terms of the Wales Act 1978 drawn up to implement proposals made by the Kilbrandon Report published in 1973.

The plans were defeated by a majority of 4:1 (20.3% for and 79.7% against) with only 12% of the Welsh electorate voting in favour of establishing an assembly. A second referendum to create a devolved assembly for Wales was held in 1997, which led to the enactment of the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the creation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.