NICOLA Sturgeon is facing demands to rule out moving for a new independence referendum for at least the next five years, as opponents claimed her failure to win a majority had torpedoed any legitimate claim that she had a right to call a repeat vote.

The First Minister, who said she would be sticking to plans to launch a fresh drive for independence this summer, has said Holyrood should be able to call another referendum on leaving the UK if there is compelling evidence the option has become the preferred option of Scots or if there is a significant change in circumstances from 2014.

She has repeatedly put forward a scenario in which Scotland is dragged out of the EU against its will as a probable trigger for another vote.

However, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said that Ms Sturgeon's argument was "utterly shredded" following the election and dismissed the suggestion that there is still justification for attempting to call another referendum as six Greens mean there will still be a majority of pro-independence MSPs at Holyrood.

Neither the SNP nor the Greens included a cast-iron commitment to holding a referendum in their manifestos, with Partick Harvie last month warning against letting June's EU referendum become the justification for a second independence poll.

Ms Davidson cited former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars who has argued Ms Sturgeon would not have a mandate to hold another independence vote, even before the SNP fell just short of a majority.

At a post-election speech in Edinburgh, Ms Davidson said: "As I said during the election campaign, the SNP manifesto does not give Nicola Sturgeon a mandate for a second independence referendum. Now that she has failed to win a majority, whatever claims the SNP were pursuing with regard to constitutional brinkmanship over the next five years have now been utterly shredded.

"As she starts her new term of office, I hope Nicola Sturgeon makes it clear that she will now focus entirely on what she was elected to do. Lead a devolved administration. I urge her to start this new parliament by ruling out another referendum."

Ms Davidson, who achieved a historic second-place finish after attempting to appeal to No voters by presenting herself as the defender of the union during the election campaign, added: "When you have a former deputy leader of the SNP like Jim Sillars saying 'it is not there in black and white in the manifesto and there is no mandate to hold it'. When you then have that double whammy of not getting a majority and your current deputy leader Stewart Hosie has to go on the television and say you do not have a mandate to pass everything in your manifesto anyway.

"I'm sorry, the First Minister no longer can pretend that she can wake up one morning, see an opinion poll that she likes and call a snap referendum. I never believed that at the time and she certainly had the legs cut away from under her in trying to pretend that's the case now."

Ms Davidson's position was backed up by Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, after he enjoyed surprise victories for his party in Edinburgh Western and North East Fife.

He said: "What is off the table is any idea of another independence referendum. They [the SNP] have got to make a clear and unambiguous statement that another referendum must be off the table for the next five years in order to respect the referendum result and this result, but also making sure that they're not going down an anti-democratic route."

In a statement delivered on the steps of her official residence, Bute House, the First Minister indicated she would press ahead with a summer drive to build support for independence, which was announced at her party's spring conference.

The SNP leader said: "On the question of independence, the SNP will make our case with passion, with patience and with respect. But our aim is to persuade, not to divide. We will always respect the opinion of the people - now and in the future - and we simply ask that other parties do likewise."

Her spokesman said her comments were not a sign the SNP accepted the chance of a second referendum had receded as a result of the election.