Reckless - independent elected politician, ill-mannered, heartless fool (9)

I believe the answer is:

imprudent

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'reckless' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'independent elected politician ill-mannered heartless fool' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'elected politician' becomes 'mp' (Member of Parliament. I am not sure about the 'elected' bit.).
'ill-mannered' becomes 'rude' (synonyms).
'heartless' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'fool' becomes 'nit' (both can mean a stupid person).
'nit' with its middle removed is 'nt'.
'i'+'mp'+'rude'+'nt'='IMPRUDENT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for imprudent that I've seen before include "Lacking in good sense or caution" , "Unwise" , "Rash, lacking discretion" , "'making the wrong choices'?" , "not wise" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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