Five phrases to ban from the Tory leadership race

The race is on to get out of the bottom, as the Spice Girls never quite sang about Liam Fox. And isn’t it depressing? I don’t just mean the Conservative leadership contest itself – unlike the Labour Party, the Tories seem to be able to organise a sack-race in a nursery playpen, which will prove a plus when negotiating with Vlad from Moscow. But Lord, some of the headlines are getting lazy. Here, at least, are five phrases I’d like never to see in a headline again.

1. Lady Macbeth

Has a literary character ever done more disservice to women? On Fleet Street, Lady Macbeth seems little more than a lazy shorthand for man’s worst fears about persuasive women. Look how often she crops up when a man in politics is heard actually listening – listening! – to his wife. You don’t have to like Sarah Vine, this week’s target, to spot misogyny in action.