Theresa May’s surprise plan to hold a general election on June 8 means very different things in Scotland to the rest of Britain. While it is hard to see a bad outcome for the Conservatives in England, the prime minister is certainly taking a risk north of the border.

At UK-level, she clearly feels her position is unassailable. She is arguing that she needs as strong a mandate as possible in EU negotiations and that only a vote for the Conservatives can protect UK interests. This will be a potent argument against a weak Labour opposition riven by division over Brexit.

It may also win her some votes in Scotland, yet May’s prospects look far less certain there. It is only weeks since May responded to Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal for a second independence referendum by saying that “now is not the time” and that the Scottish first minister should get on with the day job.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) leader will no doubt seek to capitalise: May’s arguments sound weaker coming from someone who followed up by triggering Article 50 and announcing plans for a UK election. Sturgeon has already called May’s election move a “huge political miscalculation” and an “extraordinary U-turn” on her previous insistence that the current UK parliament would run for the full five-year term.