On 1 March 1979 a referendum on the Scotland Act saw a majority vote for devolution, but a threshold imposed by anti-devolution MPs requiring 40% of the electorate to be in favour was not reached due to low turnout. When the government decided not to implement the Act, the Scottish National Party MPs put down a motion of no confidence. After consulting with the Liberal Party to confirm that they were still supporting motions of no confidence, on Monday, 26 March, the Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher put down an early day motion "[t]hat this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government.". The government arranged for this motion to be debated on Wednesday 28 March as an opposition motion in government time.