Britain's "Iron Lady", Baroness Thatcher will skip next month's Conservative Party conference to allow her party's leader to make his mark, the Daily Telegraph has reported.
The newspaper quoted unnamed friends of Lady Thatcher, who led the Conservatives to three terms in power from her election as prime minister in 1979, as saying she had made the decision without pressure from other party members.
"She will not be attending the party conference (in Blackpool) this year because the new leader deserves a chance to make his mark," her spokesman said.
The newspaper said Lady Thatcher (75) had not missed a Tory conference since 1946.
It said her absence will mark the "symbolic end of an era in which she has dominated the Tories and British politics".
By Thursday, nearly three-quarters of the party's members had cast their votes in the race to choose a new leader. Whoever is elected must turn around the fortunes of the party that was routed in the June election by the Labour Party.
The contest pits Mr Iain Duncan Smith, a eurosceptic right-wing former army officer who has Lady Thatcher's support, against Mr Kenneth Clarke, a pro-euro former finance minister.
Voting in the three-week election campaign has reopened bitter wounds over Europe and the legacy of Lady Thatcher.
Mr Duncan Smith and Mr Clarke, the two remaining candidates are currently attending the final regional hustings which will draw to a close at midday on Tuesday.
The election result is due to be announced the following day.
Bookmakers have installed Mr Duncan Smith as favourite on the basis of opinion polls which show he has strong support among grass roots members.
Mr Clarke's supporters counter that only he can reach out to disenchanted voters who deserted the party in the last two parliamentary elections.
The leadership race was triggered by the resignation of Mr William Hague after June's landslide election defeat for the party.
Meanwhile, the Tories gained four seats in the latest council by-elections but voting analysis put Labour still marginally ahead.
The Shadow culture secretary, Mr Peter Ainsworth, yesterday announced that he was backing Mr Duncan Smith.
He said: "I am supporting Iain Duncan Smith because in the course of his campaign he has demonstrated a clear commitment to the values which originally led me to join the Conservatives."
Mr Ainsworth added: "The period of the leadership election has inevitably been a divisive one, but Iain has recognised that to win elections a party must unite and he has grasped the need for the Conservative Party to embrace change if it is to articulate the aspirations of the millions of people who believe that Labour are failing our country." --( PA)