Lucinda Creighton: Having spent 12 years in politics, I have no doubt that women face different and often greater obstacles than their male counterparts

The accusation that Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the British Labour Party, was ‘goading’ Boris Johnson by crossing and uncrossing her legs is an extreme example of the way women in politics are held to different standards than men

Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party: women face different and often greater obstacles than men in politics. Picture: Bloomberg

Last week, the Mail on Sunday newspaper ran a rather squalid story about Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of the British Labour Party, which compared her to Sharon Stone’s character in the film Fatal Attraction.

Rayner, according to unnamed Conservative MPs quoted in the piece, had been “goading” Boris Johnson during prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs.

"She knows she can’t compete with Boris’s Oxford Union debating ...