Prime Minister David Cameron and Queen Elizabeth II were both expected to make announcements later on Friday, with British media reporting that Cameron would acknowledge the number of “Yes” votes and promise further devolution.
The outcome will be a huge relief for Cameron, who many suggested could not have survived in the event of a “Yes” victory.
In a tweet after the BBC called the result, Cameron said simply that he had spoken to the leader of the “No” campaign, Alistair Darling, “and congratulated him on a well-fought campaign”.
The historic decision gripped many Scots who previously took little interest in politics, including 16 and 17-year-olds allowed to vote in an election for the first time, divided families and lifelong friends between “Yes” and “No”.
There were queues outside polling stations on referendum day and many voters spoke emotionally about the most momentous political choice of their lives.
“Should Scotland be an independent country?” was the simple question facing voters in the nation’s 5,000 polling stations with “Yes” and “No” boxes below.
Crowds later partied through the night in Glasgow and Edinburgh, draped in the blue-and-white Scottish flags and setting off flares, as ballot boxes were brought in by helicopter and by boat from remote islands for the count.
– ‘No turning back’ –
In the run-up to the vote, Britain’s three main political parties promised greater powers for Scotland’s parliament including on tax and benefits in a last-minute bid to convince voters to stay in the union.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the referendum had shown a “strong demand for change” and insisted the British government in London must now make good on its promises.
“Scotland has changed forever, there’s no turning back,” she said on Friday.
There were some big wins for the “Yes” campaign, including Sturgeon’s home city of Glasgow, but the margin was not enough to mitigate a flood of “No” votes across Scotland.
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