As rumors swirl about challenges to Theresa May, the British press has been dogging a politician with first-hand experience in the art of ousting a sitting prime minister — Michael Heseltine. He infamously defenestrated Margaret Thatcher. Will it be déjà vu all over again, this time with Boris Johnson as the leading conspirator against the lady in power?

Lord Heseltine challenged Mrs. Thatcher in November 1990, arguing that the Iron Lady was no longer “fit for purpose.” There’s some irony that the row was ignited by the desire of some of the Conservatives to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Mrs. Thatcher objected. I wouldn’t want to press the point too far, but that beef was an early seed of Brexit.

While successful in the overthrow, Lord Heseltine himself failed to emerge in the top spot. Those who “do in” their leaders rarely do. Yet he remains active in Conservative politics, both as a life peer and a prominent opponent of Brexit. He’s making the most of the efforts by the press to cast him as a wise man.

Asked about the career prospects of Mrs. May’s potential challenger, Lord Heseltine agrees that BoJo is adept at “playing the game of becoming leader of the Conservative party.” As to the larger issues of uniting the party and the nation toward finalizing Brexit, these are, Lord Heseltine harrumphs, “key questions about achieving power and my doubts and reservations are very substantial.”

In Mr. Johnson’s seemingly self-defeating gaffs Lord Heseltine sees no “irreparable harm.” He is playing the long game as fellow Brexiteers eye the end game. Their mantra is to defeat not the prime minister but the agreement struck in July at Chequers, the PM’s country retreat.

That’s where the Cabinet agreed to a withdrawal proposal criticized by both friends and foes of the European Union. No doubt the principals are spooked by ghosts of the coup against Mrs. Thatcher. It has rattled the party’s reputation for fair dealing and has to remain in the mind of Tories dissatisfied with Mrs. May’s lack of mettle for Brexit, now but six months away.

No one wants to rock the boat needlessly. Calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation remain muted. Brexiteers take some assurance that preparations are underway in the event of a complete breakdown in EU negotiations, fulfilling the government’s promise that “no deal is better than a bad deal.”

So Mr. Johnson must campaign for a post not yet vacant and simultaneously appear not to be doing so. All he has to do is burnish Toryism’s faith in limited government, capitalism’s innovative dynamic, and individual freedom. This might not be so hard, given previous Conservative leaders’ less than sterling record (capped by the party’s weak 2017 election manifesto).

“Now is the time for this Conservative government to show how a post-Brexit Britain will be a happy and dynamic economy,” BoJo writes in the Telegraph. It should put its best foot forward and make its mark as one “that fosters enterprise, that rewards the strivers and the innovators, and where people can hope to take home more of their pay to their families.”

Nor does he shy away from comparing Britain’s standing with the economic turnaround achieved by America’s foremost Brexit-backer, President Trump. Lauding economic growth of 4.5% and impressive jobs numbers, Mr. Johnson notes that America’s upswing is based not only on the rationalization of tax rates and deregulation, “but perhaps even more by psychology.”

That is, “the sense that the government wants to cut taxes, wants to liberate and energize people.” Then Mr. Johnson asks the existential question for Conservatives. “Do we send out that signal, here in this country?” Sadly, he admits, “I am not so sure.” Expect him to elaborate at a fringe meeting of the Conservative autumn conference, where he is due to speak.

For now unity is the theme, Brexit the objective. “It’s not about the leadership. It’s about the policy,” BoJo tells an enquiring press. “It’s not about changing prime minister. It’s about chucking Chequers.”

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Image: White House Photo of Thatcher Reviewing the Bermuda Regiment.