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An overwhelming majority of Scots want Nicola Sturgeon to dump her demand for IndyRef2, according to an explosive new poll for the Daily Record.

Damagingly, even a third of Yes voters in 2014 say the First Minister should give up on the proposal that dominated the general election campaign in Scotland.

The exclusive research shows a ­whopping 60 per cent of Scots think the SNP should drop plans for a second ­independence referendum after they lost 21 seats in last week’s general election.

Sturgeon should remove the demand for IndyRef2 Daily Record

In contrast, only 27 per cent think Sturgeon should stick to her guns and continue to demand another ballot.

The remaining 13 per cent did not express a view.

(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Support for independence has also dropped since the 2014 referendum returned a result of 55.3 per cent No and 44.7 per cent Yes.

The latest poll found if there was another vote, the No side would now win by 57 per cent to 43 per cent.

It was carried out by Survation, the most accurate polling firm during last week’s general election campaign.

They correctly predicted a hung ­parliament and that Labour and the Tories would make significant gains at the expense of the SNP in Scotland.

Opposition parties insisted the findings were further proof that Sturgeon should forget about IndyRef2 and focus on running the country.

The First Minister has said she would “reflect carefully” on her plans to hold another ­referendum after admitting they were a factor in the ­disastrous result.

(Image: Getty Images)

In March, she called for a ­referendum to be held between the end of next year or the spring of 2019, “when the terms of Brexit are known”, an approach rejected by the UK Government.

And the poll of 1037 Scots carried out between June 9 and June 13 provides further evidence that the SNP leader’s decision to call for another vote has badly damaged her standing with the electorate.

Nicola Sturgeon should resign Daily Record

More than a third of Scots (36 per cent) think she should resign as First Minister, compared with 47 per cent who think she should stay on. More than half (57 per cent) of 2014 No voters want her to quit.

Sturgeon will be most concerned by the finer detail, which found substantial ­opposition to a second referendum among SNP supporters and those who voted Yes.

An astonishing 34 per cent of those who voted Yes less than three years ago now think the SNP should drop the demand for IndyRef2, while 15 per cent think Sturgeon should resign as first minister.

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Even those who voted SNP last week want a change of direction – 30 per cent of them now think Sturgeon should ditch her referendum demand.

One in 10 SNP voters also want her to resign and make way for a new party leader and first minister.

Nearly nine in 10 (87 per cent) of the two million Scots who voted No in 2014 want Sturgeon to drop the IndyRef2 call.

The figure is highest among those who voted Conservative last week (96 per cent) but feelings are also running high among Lib Dem (89 per cent) and Labour (72 per cent) voters.

There were reports yesterday that ­Sturgeon is hoping to “rebrand” any IndyRef2 demand as a vote on the finalised UK Brexit deal.

She tweeted: “I’ll set out way forward in due course after talking to people across the SNP. I’ll take decisions in best interests, not just of the SNP, but of Scotland… and not be dictated to by demands for quick headlines.”

(Image: UGC)

She added that her Government would focus on trying to influence Brexit talks – and repeated her claim that a “Tory-led hard Brexit is simply not acceptable” in the wake of the election result.

Scottish Labour’s election campaign manager James Kelly said: “It is a ­devastating finding for the SNP, which backs up the message that voters sent the First Minister in last week’s election.

“We need a government focused on schools and hospitals, not another ­referendum.

“Nicola Sturgeon should be looking at giving our NHS staff a pay rise, giving our schools the resources they need and abandoning her record of passing on Tory austerity to Scottish communities.

“We know that Nicola Sturgeon’s ­popularity is in freefall, so it is little wonder that over a third of Scots think she should resign. If she doesn’t get back to the day job, that figure will only rise.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw added: “This is a ­remarkable poll which demonstrates the enormous strength of feeling that exists in Scotland against a second referendum.

“When even a large number of Yes voters are saying they don’t want a ­referendum, surely Nicola Sturgeon must listen. She must take this divisive ­referendum threat off the table now.”