NICOLA Sturgeon did not rule out campaigning for another independence referendum at the next Holyrood election.

But, more significantly, she did not rule it in either.

The SNP's leader-in-waiting faces a tricky balancing act.

She must appease the party's growing grassroots membership which, fired up by the referendum, is itching for a re-run while, at the same time, gauging the public mood accurately.

She can foresee circumstances when people would demand, or at least accept, a second ballot: if the UK parties renege on their pledge to devolve more powers to Holyrood, for example, or if an in-out referendum on the EU pulls Scotland out on the back of English votes.

But Ms Sturgeon is also wary of a public backlash against the SNP if it pushes for a new independence referendum while most Scots are still recovering from last week's decisive No vote.

Her focus, then, will be on more powers for Holyrood.

She promised a "new approach" compared with that of Alex Salmond, one of consensus rather than confrontation.

Under her leadership the SNP will participate fully in Lord Smith's devolution commission which, though set up to reconcile Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem ideas, has indicated its willingness to listen more widely.

And it's highly unlikely she will block the package of powers that emerges even if she is disappointed with the outcome. That's because - as she stressed yesterday - Scotland's new First Minister will be just as interested in using the powers Holyrood already has as complaining about the ones it lacks.