Nine months after becoming prime minister, Theresa May is learning how to gamble.
Long branded a risk-averse micromanager, May is betting that a crushing election victory will win her the freedom to negotiate the kind of Brexit she wants and avoid the European curse that has destroyed many former Conservative leaders.
If all goes to her plan, the snap election in seven weeks will tighten her grip on power with a broader majority. Instead of being a prime minister who took office by default, she would have her own electoral mandate that will allow her to push a Brexit deal through Parliament.