Common man who's risen through the ranks (7)
I believe the answer is:
general
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'common' is the first definition.
(I know that common can be written as general)
'man who's risen through the ranks' is the second definition.
(high-ranking military officer)
(Other definitions for general that I've seen before include "Popular" , "High-ranking officer" , "Lee perhaps" , "Army rank" , "Not specialised, like army chief" .)