Elected leader leaving topic for discussion to the others (4)
I believe the answer is:
them
'the others' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.
(Other definitions for them that I've seen before include "Let -- eat cake" , "Perhaps, the Opposition" , "(To/from) those people" , "... in another case, they" , "Certainly not us, the other lot" .)