ALL EYES were on Fife during the early hours of this morning when it finally announced the result of its votes for the Scottish Independence Referendum, taking the No vote over the finish line to a definitive result.
The Kingdom was widely expected to have an important bearing on the outcome of the referendum. With Glasgow leaning towards Yes and Edinburgh in camp No, Fife was said to be the bellwether - the area which held the key to determining what the final result would be.
However by the time Fife finally declared its result this morning, the outcome of the vote seemed almost a foregone conclusion thanks to the No campaign building up a significant and in the end insurmountable lead early on in the proceedings.
At 6.08am, Fife announced that No had won the majority with 139,788 votes (55.05%), while Yes received 114,148 (44.95%). This declaration ensured there was no way back for the Yes campaign, and officially confirmed that Scotland would not become an independent country.
With a population of over 366,000, Fife makes up 7% of the electorate and was widely anticipated to play a significant role in the outcome of the vote. The 45%-55% split mirrors that of the final result, further proof that Fife was indeed an accurate indicator of how the final outcome would look.
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