Dicky is a liberal conservative reluctant to make canvas (9)
I believe the answer is:
sailcloth
'canvas' is the definition.
(I know that canvas is a type of canvas)
'dicky is a liberal conservative reluctant' is the wordplay.
'dicky' indicates anagramming the letters (dicky can mean not functioning properly).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'reluctant' becomes 'loth' (if you are loth to do something you are reluctant).
'is'+'a'='isa'
'isa' is an anagram of 'sai'.
'sai'+'l'+'c'+'loth'='SAILCLOTH'
'to make' is the link.
(Other definitions for sailcloth that I've seen before include "I call host (anag) - canvas" , "fabric" .)