at the referendum in favour of an Assembly, a narrow majority of about 77,400 over those voting against. However, this total represented only 32.9% of the registered electorate as a whole. The Labour government accepted that the Act's requirements had not been met, and that devolution would therefore not be introduced for Scotland. Under the terms of the Act, it was then repealed by a Statutory instrument to be approved by Parliament. The Scottish National Party subsequently voted against the government in a vote of no confidence which led to the resignation of the Callaghan government, and an election was called. The vote to approve the statutory instrument repealing the Act was not held until 20 June 1979, by which time a Conservative government had come to power under Margaret Thatcher. The Order-in-Council was subsequently made on 26 July 1979. Postscript In 1998 a new Scotland Act was passed, leading to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. A key difference between the two Acts is that under the 1978 legislation a very limited number of specific powers would have been devolved to Scotland, whereas under the 1998 legislation it is the powers reserved to Westminster which are specifically limited; everything not mentioned in the 1998 Act is automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. See also Scottish Constitutional Convention 1979 United Kingdom general election References External links Chapter 1, Events Prior to 1 May 1997, The 1979 Referendum, The Holyrood Inquiry Scottish devolution Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland 1978 in Scotland History of the Labour Party (UK) United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1978 Repealed Scottish legislation Referendums in Scotland