?2m step towards state party funding

The electoral commission is set to pay ?2m to political parties as part of a scheme that could prove a role model for full state funding.

The payments, of between ?125,000 and ?500,000 to each party, are intended for policy work on policy and, provided the scheme is successful, will be made annually.

Eight parties will be eligible to apply for the money - Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish and Welsh nationalists, the Democratic Unionists, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP. Sinn Fein, despite its four MPs, appears not to be eligible.

Every party will qualify for a basic payment of ?125,000. The remainder will be paid in relation to the party's success at the last European and general elections. Labour will qualify for a maximum payment of ?500,000.

This will be the first time state money has been paid to the governing party. Opposition parties already qualify for Short money, grants paid to cover some of the costs of their parliamentary work in order to level the playing field against a government that has civil service assistance. Last year the Conservatives were paid ?3.5m and the Liberal Democrats ?1.1m.