THE writing was already on the wall when Tracey Logan, counting officer for the Borders, rose to the podium to tell the waiting world the local result of the independence referendum.

A large television screen at cavernous Springwood Hall in Kelso had kept accredited members of both the Yes and No camps updated on results and predictions elsewhere throughout a long and noisy night.

Aptly, it was in a venue synonymous with the Border Union Show that a clear endorsement of an even more historic union was delivered.

The Yes hopes had been briefly raised an hour earlier with the declaration from Dundee, where 53% of folk opted for independence.

But although the Glasgow result – in favour of separation by a similar margin – was declared at 4.51am, Mrs Logan’s announcement, enthusiastically greeted by the No brigade, was proof positive of an inexorable trend. Most people in Scotland wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom.

After 13 hours of voting at 176 polling stations, a total of 83,526 ballot papers (including over 14,000 postal votes) were taken to Kelso in 198 boxes for the count– a thumping 87.4% turnout from a total registered electorate of 95,542.

Mrs Logan, whose day job is chief executive of Scottish Borders Council, proclaimed that votes for Yes had been 27,906 or 33% and that No votes had amounted to 55,553 or 67%.

Among Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, only in Orkney was there a more emphatic rejection of the question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?” For the record, there were 67 rejected ballot papers, with 11 of our citizens playing safe by voting for both answers. Most of the spoilt papers (55) were either unmarked or “void for uncertainty”.

Mrs Logan later said she was “pleased” at how the count had gone, adding: “On such an historic occasion our staff ensured an efficient and effective count was carried out and I’d like to thank them all for their commitment and effort.” This was an acknowledgement of the 381 staff who had worked at the polling stations and the 190 who had carried out the count.

Speaking exclusively to the Peeblesshire News this week, Scottish Borders Council leader David Parker, who campaigned for a Yes vote in the referendum, offers the following reflections: “The great thing about democracy is that you always get the right answer because it is the answer that the majority vote for, and therefore it is right.

“I fully respect the outcome of the referendum and actually I am very positive about the whole process.

“Scotland has debated this very significant question for two years in a calm and sensible way. There has been massive public engagement and interest and many people on both sides of the debate have been empowered.

“The record turn-out is a credit to our nation and although the No camp won the day, there is much for those who supported Yes to be positive about.

“Independence got the highest vote amongst the people of Scotland that has ever been recorded and the referendum will now lead to additional powers for the Scottish parliament which is something that a clear majority of Scots do support.  “The involvement of 16 and 17 year-olds in the process has been tremendous and I hope that they will now receive a vote at every election going forward.

“I am very much a glass half full person, but I can’t help but think that on both sides of the debate something very significant has been achieved for Scotland which will serve us all very well for the future.” Councillor Gavin Logan, the Conservative who represents Tweeddale East on Scottish Borders Council, said: “ I for one am immensely relieved that this referendum is over. It has been rightly claimed as a triumph for democracy with more than two thirds of the 87% of the Border’s electorate voting No .

“Now is the time to work together and to do what is best for Scotland and the Borders and not for anticipated problems, real or imagined.”