A NATIONALIST MSP has indicated that he believes another referendum on Scottish independence will be held during the next Holyrood parliament.

Colin Keir, who represents Edinburgh Western as is facing a battle for renomination to stand again next May, has produced a leaflet in which he says the SNP needed a maximum number of MSPs in 2016 to "win a second independence referendum."

Opponents said the leaflet clashed with the claim made by several high-profile figures on the Yes side during last year's campaign who said the vote was a once in a generation, or even a once in a lifetime, opportunity.

Nicola Sturgeon has so far refused to rule out seeking a mandate to hold a second vote in the SNP's manifesto ahead of next May's Scottish Parliament vote.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "It seems the once in a generation message has changed to holding a second referendum as soon as possible. People in Scotland voted decisively in September to stay in the UK – it’s time the SNP respected that result."

Mr Keir, who was elected in 2011 after overturning a Liberal Democrat majority of almost 6,000, is facing challenges from five other members in the race to be selected.

They include Toni Giugliano, a European politics and French with EU constitutional law graduate from the University of Edinburgh, who has worked in Brussels and led the Yes campaign in Scotland's capital. The Italian, who moved to Scotland aged seven, is on SNP’s national executive committee.

Mr Keir, a former bus driver and councillor, has faced accusations that he has been "lazy" during his spell as an MSP although others have defended his record. Edinburgh Council finance convener Alasdair Rankin, leisure convener Richard Lewis, and activists Graham Sutherland, Alison Lindsay and Jamie Szymkowiak are also fighting to win the SNP nomination for the seat.

An SNP spokesman said: "The timing of any future referendum is entirely a matter for the people of Scotland to decide - the people, not politicians, are in charge at every stage of the process. The First Minister has made clear we are not planning another referendum, but equally has made it clear that it is not in the gift of any politician and party to rule it out indefinitely."