Former British prime minister Lady Margaret Thatcher has decided not to attend this year's Conservative Party conference to avoid stealing the limelight from the party's new leader, her office said today.
A spokeswoman said Mrs Thatcher would stay away from the gathering in Blackpool next month "because the new leader deserves a chance to make his mark".
Mrs Thatcher has already announced she is backing shadow defence secretary Mr Iain Duncan Smith in the contest against Mr Kenneth Clarke.
She warned Mr Clarke would lead the party to disaster, and he hit back by saying that Mrs Thatcher had tried to "hijack" recent conferences.
The result of the leadership contest will be announced next Wednesday afternoon.
Shadow environment secretary Mr Archie Norman warned yesterday that many in his party were still "in the thrall" of Mrs Thatcher and called for further radical reforms to boost the party.
Mrs Thatcher attended her first party conference in 1946 - which was also held in Blackpool.
She went as President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and wrote in her memoir The Path to Power: "I was immediately entranced."
PA