Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives have backed down from plans to charge journalists £137 to report on the governing party’s annual conference.
Other British political parties offer free accreditation for journalists but the Tories introduced a fee last year.
The move prompted considerable anger and complaints from media organisations.
Last month, an open letter signed by nearly 300 news organisations from around the world accused the Tories of setting a “dangerous precedent” internationally by trying to “tax journalists for doing their job”.
The party defended the charge and said it was necessary to address the cost of security checks for people accrediting but not turning up – which it said amounts to “tens of thousands of pounds”.
The cost of accreditation for the conference, in Manchester in October, was set to rise to £880 for journalists applying after the end of July.
The decision to drop the charge comes after talks between the Conservatives and news organisations including the Foreign Press Association, the News Media Association, the News Media Coalition and the Society of Editors.
In a statement, the media bodies said: “Following dialogue between the Conservative Party and industry bodies, we welcome the decision to withdraw the media accreditation fee and refund those that have already paid.
“As recognised by the party, all party conferences provide a valuable opportunity for political parties to communicate their policies to the public and ahead of an anticipated general election year, the ability of the media to scrutinise and report freely from such events remains especially important and vital for democracy.
“In agreeing to scrap the fee, the party has asked that journalists and news organisations are mindful of the number of applications they submit to attend the conference.
“While it is understood that the news agenda often dictates last minute changes, there remains a significant cost and time resource associated with accrediting applications – not least for the police.
“We are grateful to the party for listening to our concerns and acting accordingly.”
The Tories have extended the deadline for applications for free press passes to August 31.
Any media organisations who have paid for accreditation will be offered a refund.
The party, in agreeing to scrap the fee, has asked for reporters and media to be “mindful” of the administrative pressure of applying for conference places that do not end up being used.
The Tories said “no shows” may be charged a levy when applying for future conferences.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with a range of trade associations which addresses the concerns of both sides.
“We believe this revised system will deal with the issues of ‘no shows’ and prevent non-journalists applying for media passes to evade accreditation charges.”
