We felt it would be a missed opportunity not to discuss Brexit. I won’t say whether the MP in question was Labour or Conservative, Brexit or Remain. But they concluded their position on the prorogation saga with the words: “I know I’m right.”

I know I’m right: the mantra of people in the wrong throughout the ages. Or perhaps one had better say, the mantra of people with incomplete information. The times are out-of-joint, and journalism is affected by it.

In creating this magazine, it would be pointless to deny that we seek a better conversation. I’m sometimes asked about the significance of the magazine’s name. The mace is, of course, a symbol of political authority. We aspire, as a new magazine should, to authoritative journalism. But in the Commons, the mace also acts as a guarantee of order, whereby debate can begin.

Our magazine is a kind of debating chamber: Damian Collins tells us about the mood of the new parliament; Green co-leader Siân Berry explains what she would do as PM; and David Lammy celebrates life in his Tottenham constituency. Elsewhere, William Boyd considers the novel in a post-Brexit age; Andrew Roberts and Rowan Williams discuss aspects of history and philosophy respectively; and Sting, in our wide-ranging interview, describes the obligations that celebrity imposes on the politically mindful. Mace is without bias. In these pages, William Cash interviews …