Remember me
Anyone who pursues a life in politics knows that it will, quite rightly, open every aspect of their public, and private, life to scrutiny. It's absolutely beyond doubt that we must pay the correct tax, obey the law and uphold the highest standards in public life.
But giving the wrong name to something you achieved when you were 14? That's surely not worth wasting our time on? If journalists asked me what I had for breakfast last week, I couldn't necessarily tell them, never mind when I was a teenager.
Yet this week the Chancellor found herself at the centre of another torrent of political and media abuse because she named the wrong chess title she won when she was 14. Wow.
Rather than focus on the impact of her economic strategy, it was her chess-playing history that even the leader of the Opposition seemed obsessed with.
Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov plays chess against Rachel Reeves at the Houses of Parliament in 2014 (Picture: Stefan Rousseau) | PAThe misogynist tendency in UK public life
In a week when I spoke to a delegation of the Women's Parliamentary Caucus of Pakistan about the challenges facing women here and the need for us to work together, this was quite the curve ball.
Because to many of us observing – mostly female certainly – it felt like Rachel Reeves was the target of little more than the misogynist tendency which persists in our public life.
What does it matter what the thing she won was called? Would it matter at all if she were a man? I am the first to call for a better economic approach, criticise the government for not cutting VAT on hospitality, but I don't give a hoot about any politician’s chess history.
Rayner, May and Sturgeon
We need to get over this obsession that meant Angela Rayner was hounded until eventually there was something to justify the hype and she resigned. That meant Theresa May was ridiculed for the way she walked on stage to Dancing Queen.
And I don't doubt Nicola Sturgeon has a host of examples not confined to the nasty nicknames she suffered. But it isn't like this elsewhere.
I recently visited Iceland where 50 years of activism and awareness of the need for gender equity means that a nation which lagged behind us in women’s suffrage now far surpasses us in their inclusive approach, with a female President, Prime Minister, Speaker, ministers, party leaders... even the UK has entered into the spirit by appointing a female ambassador.
On our visit to their parliament, the difference in tone and cross-party respect was startling. No petty name calling or mansplaining there. We have a lot to learn.
Playground insults must stop
The ministerial code and Nolan principles in public life are vital but if they are to mean anything they mustn't be used as an excuse for nasty trivial attacks. If the misogyny isn't bad enough, what these attacks actually betray are people with no answers to the questions of the day.
Imagine if the leader of the Opposition used all their air-time to suggest solutions to the country's problems instead of throwing playground insults and pulling pigtails. How refreshing that would be.
What do young women think when they turn on the TV and see women tearing each other down, rather than building them up? If we are not careful, we will discourage good people from entering public service. Checkmate. Unfortunately.
Christine Jardine is Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West