Secret political clique (5)
I believe the answer is:
cabal
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">secret political clique</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for cabal that I've seen before include "Group of political intriguers" , "Plotting group" , "Small party" , "Secret political clique or faction" , "Small group of (eg political) plotters" .)