A short plain-spoken Party Conference perhaps bearing fruit (7,4)
I believe the answer is:
avocado pear
'fruit' is the definition.
(I know that avocado pear is a type of fruit)
'a short plain-spoken party conference perhaps' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'plain-spoken' becomes 'vocal' (spoken aloud).
'party' becomes 'do' (do is a kind of party).
'conference perhaps' becomes 'pear' (conference is a type of pear).
'vocal' with its last letter taken off is 'voca'.
'a'+'voca'+'do'+'pear'='AVOCADO PEAR'
'bearing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for avocado pear that I've seen before include "Green-fleshed fruit" , "Fruit with green-black skin and yellowish flesh" , "Large-stoned fruit" , "food item" , "Fruit with green flesh" .)