ROUND 2

Scotland Set to Hold Second Independence Referendum

A national vote to separate from the United Kingdom failed in 2014.

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has proposed a date for her country to hold a new vote on independence from the United Kingdom. As the leader of the Scottish National Party—which campaigns for Scotland to break away from the U.K.—Sturgeon believes she has a mandate to hold another referendum on the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?” after a 2014 national vote on the same question came down on the side of “No.” Sturgeon on Tuesday proposed October 19, 2023, as the date to hold the next referendum. But British constitutional rules mean that she would need consent from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the vote to go ahead, a request which he has previously indicated he would decline. “​​What I am not willing to do, what I will never do, is allow Scottish democracy to be a prisoner of Boris Johnson or any prime minister,” Sturgeon said.