Few friends in the North for Mrs Kelly.

The article presents information on the North of England Education Conference, which was held on January 4-6, 2006 at the Sage Centre in Gateshead, the state of the art music centre on the banks of the Tyne. The conference was attended by approximately 400 delegates. This traditionally has been the first major education event of the year, which is often used by the Government to set out its stall for the forthcoming year. It includes information on keynote speakers including Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State and issues that were addressed at various meetings.