Maybe Ipswich MP Chris Mole was thinking about this when he joined colleagues and quit his post, urging Tony Blair to step down sooner rather than later.

With up to 1,000 predicted job losses in Suffolk’s health service over the next two years, and the severe impact this will have for local people, I guess he had no choice.

This is what Chris Mole said when resigning as parliamentary private secretary to communities minister Phil Woolas:

“As you will have gathered from recent media coverage, I have joined with a group of colleagues who were elected in 2001 to ask the Prime Minister to consider leaving office sooner rather than later.

“This I believe leaves me in a difficult position as a Parliamentary Private Secretary and I have consequently resigned from the government.

“I strongly believe the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of too many colleagues and more widely within the membership of the Labour Party and that renewal can only follow a change of leadership, our fortunes will not recover until that change has taken place.

I am confident that I have reflected the views of the constituency party “in taking this step.

“Whilst the letter was intended to be private, it has unfortunately become public leading to the resignation of a junior minister and a number of other colleagues. I had hoped that the Prime Minister would have been able to see that this was not a group of the usual suspects, but mainstream, supportive colleagues who fear for the interest of the party and country.

“Whilst I welcome the indication that the PM will have left office by July 2007, I want to see a more concrete indication that a transition to a new leader is being actively planned.”

At least Chris Mole can take comfort that many people share his views, including a large chunk of very anxious constituents.