In favour of dependant being bold (7)
I believe the answer is:
forward
'bold' is the definition.
(associated in meaning)
'in favour of dependant' is the wordplay.
'in favour of' becomes 'for' (I've seen this before).
'dependant' becomes 'ward'.
'for'+'ward'='FORWARD'
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for forward that I've seen before include "Attacking player" , "advance" , "Straight ahead" , "To the front" , "moving ahead" .)