John Smith (Labour Party leader)

As a young minister Smith piloted the ill-fated Scotland Act 1978 through the Commons, and as Labour leader from 1992 he called a Scottish parliament 'the settled will of the Scottish people' and committed Labour to delivering it. His death in 1994 meant he never saw it, but his commitment bound his successors, and Tony Blair, less enthusiastic, kept the promise while adding the condition of a two-question referendum.