Liberal punching old Tory moderate in hooter (5)
I believe the answer is:
owlet
'hooter' is the definition.
(I know that owlet is a type of hooter)
'liberal punching old tory moderate' is the wordplay.
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'punching' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters punch or puncture others).
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'tory moderate' becomes 'wet' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'o'+'wet'='owet'
'l' put inside 'owet' is 'OWLET'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for owlet that I've seen before include "Young bird; moth" , "Young bird of the night" , "Young fly-by-night" , "Towel (anag)" , "new hooter?" .)