The Mace celebrated its 5th anniversary on Monday with a champagne reception, sponsored by former Culture Secretary Lord Vaizey, in the Churchill Room of the House of Commons for MPs, peers, diplomats, politicos, media. Guests included bestselling political writer Michael Dobbs - author of House of Cards and now a peer, Shadow and Business Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith MP, Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Baroness Bottomley, Fr Christopher Colven, Catholic Chaplain to Parliament, Sir Bill Cash CH, Doug Urbanksi, BAFTA winning producer of The Darkest Hour and Slow Horses, and media figures including David Montgomery, Quentin Letts, Gus Carter of The Spectator and Neil Osborn, former managing director of Euromoney. The Honourable Sir Bernard Jenkin MP next to Sir Bill Cash CH Many senior figures from the world of UK public affairs also attended including Scott Colvin, group director of public affairs at insurance giant Aviva - who turned down an offer to become Liz Truss's chief of staff but stayed at Aviva - and Andrew Mennar, senior director, Government Affairs at BP. Several ambassadors were present including the Luxembourg Ambassador to the UK and senior officials from many embassies including Japan, France and Estonia. "I'm so sorry so many of you had to queue so long to get it' said Lord Vaizey in his opening remarks. "But I'm glad you've made it in, because now you're being looked after by our brilliant team in the House of Commons who are filling you with champagne and wonderful food." David Montgomery next to Georgie Holt He added: 'It's a great honour to be here at the fifth birthday of Mace - one of the most important parliamentary publications in the country, joking that in five years, he hadn't yet been asked to contribute which reflected on the 'sagacious and wise approach of the editor in chief who knows how to commission great writers'. In his speech, co-founder and editor-in-chief William Cash said that the idea behind launching The Mace five years ago was to create a new glossy political insider magazine that was a cross between Politico, The House magazine and George. "Yes, I realise some in the room may not have even been born when John F Kennedy Jr launched George back in 1995, he noted. "I was living in America when the magazine first came out exactly 30 years ago - with Cindy Crawford dressed up on the cover as George Washington. Kamal Pankhania with William Cash "The idea – 12 years before Politico was founded - was a good one: a new political glossy that covered the wider political community. But JFK Jr missed a trick when he thought that the world needed a magazine that fused politics and celebrity. In fact, what was missing was a magazine that focused on the mercurial intersection of politics and business - which is what The Mace is all about." "The landscape of Westminster is never changed by the people you might expect. That’s why this magazine is filled with the backstage cast of real political influencers. Readers will find out which lobbyists are shaping policy and legislation, and which MPs are listening to those lobbyists”. The party was not only to celebrate The Mace's 5th anniversary but also to launch a 40 page special report on “The New Political Influencers”. Edited by Sarah Richardson and peer-reviewed, the special report reveals the Top 100 agency professionals, from former ministers and special advisers, to planning gurus and former political editors. Doug Urbanksi and Michael Dobbs Many were present at the party, from Toby Pellew, managing director of Headland to George Pascoe-Watson, former political editor of The Sun and now co-founder of Schillings Communications. Cash's speech underscored how, with the uncertainty over tariffs and regulation, and companies wanting to navigate their way through the maze of Whitehall and Brussels, "it’s now boom time for public affairs" with an estimated 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels and around 5000 in the ‘Westminster Tunnel’ today. He added that when looking through the cast list of photos of those attending The Mace's original 2020 party in the Jubilee Room off Westminster Hall made clear how brutal and unforgiving politics can be as a career. "Many at that party are now out of a job, although – as we report in our special report - plenty remain as political advisers in some capacity, working in public affairs or advising law firms on policy."   Martin and Amanda Newson The 5th anniversary Diary slot had been offered originally to Lord Mandelson but when an email was sent to his Global Counsel email, it "bounced back". So one time hack Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union and now Lord Young of Acton as a new member of the House of Lords. The editor flagged up Young's "hilarious" column, in which he reveals that some of the rules took some getting used to. Shortly after he arrived, he walked into the chamber, remembered to bow to the throne, then spotted a Baroness he recognised and made his way towards her. Young wrote: “Aft...