2004 North East England devolution referendum

North East England devolution referendum, 2004

4 November 2004
You can help to decide whether there should be an elected assembly in the North East region. If an elected assembly is to be established, it is intended that: the elected assembly would be responsible for a range of activities currently carried out mainly by central government bodies, including regional economic development; and local government would be reorganised into a single-tier in those parts of the region that currently have both county and district councils. Should there be an elected assembly for the North East region?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 197,310 22.07% No 696,519 77.93% Valid votes 893,829 98.62% Invalid or blank votes 12,538 1.38% Total votes 906,367 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 1,899,742 47.71%
Results by local authority

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National and regional referendums held within the United Kingdom and its constituent countries
Northern Ireland border poll     1973 EC membership referendum     1975 Scottish devolution referendum     1979 Welsh devolution referendum     1979 Scottish devolution referendum     1997 Welsh devolution referendum     1997 Greater London Authority referendum     1998 NI Good Friday Agreement referendum     1998 NE England devolution referendum     2004 Welsh devolution referendum     2011 Alternative Vote referendum     2011 Scottish independence referendum     2014 EU membership referendum     2016     * UK-wide referendums in bold
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The North East England devolution referendum was an all postal ballot referendum that took place on 4 November 2004 throughout North East England on whether or not to establish an elected assembly for the region. Devolution referendums in the regions of Northern England were initially proposed under provisions of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003. Initially, three referendums were planned, but only one took place. The votes concerned the question of devolving limited political powers from the UK Parliament to elected regional assemblies in North East England, North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber respectively. Each were initially planned to be held on 4 November 2004, but on 22 July 2004 the planned referendums in North West England and in Yorkshire and the Humber were postponed, due to concerns raised about the use of postal ballots, but the referendum in North East England was allowed to continue, particularly as it was assumed that the region held the most support for the proposed devolution.

On 4 November 2004, voters in the North East rejected the proposal, in an all-postal ballot, by 77.9% to 22.1%, on a turnout of 48%. Every council area in the region had a majority for "no". The referendum was held in what was at the time arguably Labour's strongest region within the United Kingdom which included at the time the then Prime Minister Tony Blair's own constituency in Sedgefield. The defeat marked the end of the Labour Government's policy of devolution for England, and the other proposed referendums for the North West and for Yorkshire and the Humber were dropped indefinitely. This would also be the last major devolution referendum to be held in any part of the United Kingdom under the Labour Government of 1997–2010.

The campaign against the proposed Assembly was successfully led by local businessman John Elliott,^[1] who argued that the institution would have no real powers and that it would be a "white elephant" and too centric to Newcastle upon Tyne.

It was the first major referendum to be held in any part of the United Kingdom which was conducted and overseen by the Electoral Commission after its establishment in 2000 under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000.