Conservative line taken by Poor Clare about one of the ministry? (8)
I believe the answer is:
clerical
'conservative line taken by poor clare about one of the ministry?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'conservative line taken by poor clare about one' is the wordplay.
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'line' becomes 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem).
'taken by' indicates putting letters inside.
'poor' indicates an anagram.
'about one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral. I am not sure about the 'about' bit.).
'clare' is an anagram of 'ercal'.
'ercal' going around 'i' is 'erical'.
'c'+'l'+'erical'='CLERICAL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clerical that I've seen before include "concerned with office" , "may be an error?" , "Such a life Eliot depicted" , "Like routine office work" , "working in an office" .)