engagement, Sturgeon became the first head of government to address the Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament). International Offices Scotland has a network of eight international offices across the world, these are located in: Beijing (Scottish Government Beijing Office) (British Embassy) Berlin (Scottish Government Berlin Office) Brussels (Scotland House Brussels) Copenhagen (Scottish Government Copenhagen Office) Dublin (Scottish Government Dublin Office) (British Embassy) London (Scotland House London) Ottawa (Scottish Government Ottawa Office) (British High Commission) Paris (Scottish Government Office) (British Embassy) Washington DC (Scottish Government Washington DC Office) (British Embassy) Constitutional changes A policy of devolution had been advocated by the three main British political parties with varying enthusiasm during recent history. A previous Labour leader, John Smith, described the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people". The devolved Scottish Parliament was created after a referendum in 1997 found majority support for both creating the Parliament and granting it limited powers to vary income tax. The Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence, was first elected to form the Scottish Government in 2007. The new government established a "National Conversation" on constitutional issues, proposing a number of options such as increasing the powers of the Scottish Parliament, federalism, or a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. In rejecting the last option, the three main opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament created a commission to investigate the distribution of powers between devolved Scottish and UK-wide bodies. The Scotland Act 2012, based on proposals by the commission, was subsequently enacted devolving additional powers to the Scottish Parliament. In August 2009 the SNP proposed a bill to hold a referendum on independence in November 2010. Opposition from all other major parties led to an expected defeat. After the 2011 Scottish Parliament election gave the SNP an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament, the 2014 Scottish independence referendum was held on 18 September. The referendum resulted in a rejection of independence, by 55.3% to 44.7%. During the campaign, the three main parties in the British Parliament pledged to extend the powers of the Scottish Parliament. An all-party commission chaired by Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Kelvin was formed, which led to a further devolution of powers through the Scotland Act 2016. Following the European Union Referendum Act 2015, the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum was held on 23 June