As Jacob Rees-Mogg recently found out, and I discovered in 2003 when I resigned as one of Iain Duncan Smith's shadow ministers, leading a public rebellion is deeply uncomfortable. It is unlikely to do your immediate prospects any good either.

So it was with very mixed feelings that I let it be known that I have joined Jacob and a number of other colleagues in writing to Sir Graham Brady to ask for a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.

MPs' letters can remain entirely private as our rules, uniquely in the world, place total trust in one person, the Chairman of the 1922 Committee. This is so that anybody from the most senior minister to the newest MP can request a ballot without the angst of making a public declaration.

It also means nobody is quite sure how many of the 48 letters (representing 15 per cent of Conservative MPs) which are required to trigger a vote have been sent.

But today, just as back then, I am convinced of the need to waive my right to privacy and take a public stand in order to encourage my colleagues to join us. Much of politics is about creating alliances and delivering majority positions. Individual decisions rarely succeed until they have inspired enough to follow.