Candidates hoping to stand for mayor of Birmingham will be set a strict spending limit of just over £47,000 each - but it's unclear where they will get the money from.
The parties have given no indication that they will actually be willing to fund mayoral campaigns. And with elections for police commissioners also taking place at the same time as the mayoral vote in November, they may simply not have the cash to splash out for leaflets and traditional mailshots.
The funding cap was revealed by Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell, who said candidates would be allowed to spend £2,362 plus 5.9p for every voter.
