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Scots vote against independence, Alex Salmond concedes defeat
Friday September 19, 2014 11:50 AM, Agencies

The 'No' campaign won the Scottish independence referendum to keep Scotland within United Kingdom, polling results showed Friday, reported Xinhua.

Scot Vote

Following the reports that 55 percent vote is against breaking union with England, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond conceded defeat.

The official result will be announced later in the day.

With results of 30 out of the country's 32 council areas being declared, the "No" -- those against independence -- have an unassailable lead of 1,877,252 votes to 1,512,688, the BBC reported.

The winning total needed was 1,852,828.

Nationally, the margin of victory is about 55 percent to 45 percent.

Glasgow, Scotland's largest council area and the third largest city in Britain, voted in favour of independence by 194,779 to 169,347, with Dundee, West Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire also voting "Yes".

But Edinburgh, the nation's capital, rejected independence by 194,638 to 123,927, while Aberdeen City voted "No" by a margin of more than 20,000 votes.

There have also been big wins for the pro-UK campaign in many other areas.

The vote is the culmination of a two-year campaign.

Talks will now begin on devolving more powers to Scotland.

This margin of victory is some three points greater than that anticipated by the final opinion polls.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who led the pro-independence "Yes" campaign, accepted defeat in the referendum.

In his first public comment since the results started coming in, Salmond tweeted: "Well done to Glasgow, our Commonwealth city, and to the people of Scotland for such incredible support."

In October 2012, Cameron and Salmond signed the Edinburgh Agreement, allowing Scotland to hold an independence referendum in 2014.

It is also the third referendum for Scotland after the two previous ones held respectively in 1979 and 1997 on Scottish devolution.

Earlier, an unofficial poll by YouGov indicated that 54 percent of those who cast ballots in Scotland's independence referendum voted "no".

Ninety-seven percent of the 4.3 million people eligible to vote Thursday registered to do so, and turnout was estimated at more than 80 percent.

The polls closed at 10 p.m. and the first official results were not expected until after midnight, with the final tabulation coming at around 7 a.m. Friday.

YouGov interviewed 1,828 people who cast their ballots at polling places and 800 others who voted by mail.

The responses point to a small shift from the "yes" to the "no" column on polling day, the survey firm said. YouGov's final pre-ballot poll, conducted for The Sun and The Times, gave the "no" side an advantage of 52 percent to 48 percent.

Residents of Scotland, 16 and older, including Commonwealth and European Union nationals, were eligible to vote on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom after 307 years.

 



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