CABINET minister and Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly has lost a complaint against the Daily Mirror over its coverage of her decision to send her son to a private school offering special-needs education.

The mother-of-four complained to the Press Complaints Commission in January after the Daily Mirror named her as the minister reported to have angered some Labour colleagues by taking her child out of the state system.

The PCC yesterday ruled that the newspaper had not broken its code of conduct because it focussed on Ms Kelly's decision rather than details of her child and that the article "highlighted a subject of considerable public interest."

It also concluded that the paper had taken steps to limit intrusion into the child's life by not printing his name, details of his condition or his school.

Ms Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said she was disappointed by the ruling.

"I have always accepted the scrutiny, both personal and political, which comes with being a politician and minister," she said. "But this case was not about me, but about a nine-year-old child.

"I brought the complaint because I do not see why the protection that the code rightly gives to children in general should not extend to the children of politicians.

"My sole intention throughout was to protect my son."

The Daily Mirror was the first paper to disclose Ms Kelly's identity as the minister who had enrolled a child at a £15,000-a-year private school. The Bolton News also carried the story.

The story was first reported, without names, in the Mail on Sunday.

The disclosure that a former Education Secretary was the minister in question caused anger among Labour MPs, some of whom accused her of hypocrisy.

Responding to criticism, she revealed that her son had "substantial" learning difficulties and that she was acting on professional advice.

In an emotional plea for understanding, she insisted she had to do the "right thing" for her child and said it was not uncommon for pupils with substantial learning difficulties to spend some time outside the state sector to help them progress.