Now or Never! The First Scottish Referendum and its Legacy, 1979-2026

When: Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Peston Lecture Theatre, Graduate Centre, Mile End

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Join us at the Mile End Institute to celebrate Tom Chidwick’s new book Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum.

On 1 March 1979, voters went to the polls in Scotland's first national referendum to decide whether to establish a Scottish Assembly, nearly three centuries after the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament in 1707. Held just two months before the general election that brought Margaret Thatcher to power, the referendum was Scotland's first opportunity to determine the constitutional question that had dogged its politics for nearly a century and, as in 1997 and 2014, it shaped the country's public life for a generation.

With both 'Yes' and 'No' campaigners believing that it was “Now or Never”, the referendum forged extraordinary alliances between politicians and activists from different political parties. Musicians, sportsmen and celebrities joined the campaign trail, as did poets, clergymen, women's groups and City financiers.

In this event, we bring together academics, politicians and journalists to explore the history of Scotland’s first referendum, held in the dying days of James Callaghan's Labour government, and how devolution came to dominate the politics of the 1970s. We will ask why the referendum took place, why Scotland failed at that time to secure its own parliament, and the lessons for supporters of devolution, independence or a stronger Union today.

Speakers:

Tom Chidwick is author of Now or Never! A History of the First Scottish Devolution Referendum and the Manager of the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary University of London. He has given interviews and commentary to media outlets including the BBC, France24 and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and has published in The House magazine, Scottish Review, and the History of Parliament Trust.

Carolyn Quinn (chair) is one of the country’s most recognisable and celebrated broadcasters. She joined the BBC in 1987 and has presented many of Radio 4's current affairs programmes including Today and PM. She was the first woman elected Chair of the Westminster Press Gallery and is perhaps best known as the presenter of The Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4 from 2007 to 2023.

Baroness (Annabel) Goldie was the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2016. She joined the House of Lords in 2013 as a Conservative peer and served in the governments of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Prior to entering politics, she was a solicitor in Glasgow where she campaigned in the 1979 referendum.

Ben Jackson is Professor of Modern History at University College, Oxford, and the Co-Editor of Political Quarterly. He has published widely on a range of subjects including the history of labour, social justice and equality, Thatcherism and the history and politics of Scottish nationalism. He is the co-editor of Making Thatcher’s Britain and the author of The Case for Scottish Independence: A History of Nationalist Political Thought in Modern Scotland.

More speakers will be announced soon.