Blog: Who said Theresa May is a cautious Prime Minister?

By calling a general election she has made a big, big call.

It's a massive decision but will not have been made on the spur of the moment.

Ms May may be more of a risk taker then we thought, but she is also a calculating politician - in the best possible way.

She's looked at the odds and the options and figured that the Tory party can only benefit from an election.

In terms of the UK this will be about giving the Prime Minister a personal mandate for Brexit.

It will also, she hopes, mean that Labour will be much reduced, as the polls suggest Jeremy Corbyn's party will be.

In Scotland it will be not just about Brexit, but also about the prospect of a second independence referendum.

SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already taken to social media to say this:

That will be there pitch.

For the Tories in Scotland and their leader, Ruth Davidson, this will be a big test, bigger than the local elections in May.

The Scottish Tories hope their core message, opposition to indyref2, will make an impact.

They hope they can can more than the one seat they held in 2015, David Mundell in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.

If they can reduce the number of SNP MPs from the huge number of 56 they won the last time around.

For the SNP though it could be argued that Mrs May's decision works for them - it focuses the debate on Brexit and independence.

And, the SNP would hope, further diminishes Labour in Scotland.