Moderate politicians coming from troublesome situation up North (4)
I believe the answer is:
wets
'moderate politicians' is the definition.
(term popular when Margaret Thatcher was in power)
'troublesome situation up north' is the wordplay.
'troublesome situation' becomes 'stew'.
'up north' says the letters should be written in reverse (like on a map - reverse order in down clue).
'stew' backwards is 'WETS'.
'coming from' is the link.
(Other definitions for wets that I've seen before include "Applies moisture" , "Moistens" .)