Jack Straw explains the four incentives of party registration to the House

Mr Huggett stood under this label in the 1994 European elections in Devon and East Plymouth and gained 10,000 votes, angering the Liberal Democrats, who came second by a mere 700 votes.

The Lib Dems were also the subject of Mr Huggett's candidacy in the 1997 General Election when he stood in Winchester as a "Top Choice Liberal Democrat" but this time he made no difference to the result.

Under the new Bill this practice would be barred.

The Home Secretary Jack Straw commended the Bill to the House, saying it would "protect the identify of political parties and thereby protect the integrity of the political system".

If the Bill becomes law, political parties will be invited to register their names and any party names that are likely to cause confusion among the voters will be rejected. Registration will, however, not be compulsory.

Incentives

The Home Secretary listed the incentives for political parties to register.

Parties would not be allowed to put up candidates for the Scottish and Welsh Assemblies and the European Parliament, where the party list system applies, without registering.

Registering would also give parties the permission to have their emblem or logo printed alongside the name of their candidates on ballot papers.

And, finally, parties who failed to register would not be eligible for Party Election Broadcasts.

This clause could cause problems for Sinn Fein, which as an Irish republican party, may be reluctant to register as a British political party and therefore would miss out on PEBs.

Political parties will register, like businesses, at Companies House in Cardiff.

"One cheer for the Bill"

Norman Fowler takes to the despatch box for the first time as Mr Straw's shadow

Replying to Mr Straw for the opposition the new Conservative home affairs spokesman, Sir Norman Fowler, gave his partial support to the new measures saying: "I can give one cheer for this Bill."

Mr Fowler gave his support to those clauses of the Bill that prevent political passing-off, in both the names of candidates and parties, as at least two of his Conservative colleagues, Rod Richards and Sir Nicholas Lyell had both suffered from people attempting to campaign using their names.

But Mr Fowler said placing party logos on ballot papers was more likely to "confuse" rather than making voting more simple as the Bill intends.