But it is hard to see how he can become leader again in this Parliament, in which so many of his own MPs refused to serve under him.
From the short-lived National Party to the astonishing success of the Empire Free Trade Crusade, the 20th Century saw plenty of attempted revolts on the right.
The unions were small-c conservatives. They paraded under heraldic banners, had no truck with such new-fangled ideas as women’s rights, and wanted to keep every coal mine in the country open.
The broad consensus needed for constitutional change is at odds with the factional spirit in which they have launched their campaign.
She was not an easy person to contradict and no one in her circle made the argument against unfunded tax cuts.
Conservatives should be careful not to assume that all Hindus are Thatcherites in waiting. Some regard standing up to Modi, and keeping his anti-Muslim politics out of Britain, as much more important.
The Prime Minister portrayed himself as a sane, sober, consensual person who is hard at work improving people’s lives.
When a minister comes under attack from the parliamentary lobby, petty allegations are treated as monstrous crimes.
In a politics over-stocked with PPE graduates from Oxford, she has shown that a Liverpudlian who left school at 16 can triumph.
The new Prime Minister baffled the Opposition by mixing high-minded friendliness with low blows.
Party members deserve a larger say over policy, candidate selection, and much else. But it must be for the House of Commons to choose the prime minister.
Faragist liberatarians wouldn’t have the right message to seize the moment – but Dominic Cummings is a different story.
He cannot now fulfil the great, unavoidable function of any Conservative leader, which is to unite the party. The wounds are too recent and too raw.
The thought of watching Truss perform like this week after week is for Tory MPs unbearable.
The Conservative Democratic Organisation is grateful for the opportunity here to outline some of our proposed reforms to the party that it wishes to see in more detail.