Politicians follow this pretentious Liberal with long clothing (5,4)
I believe the answer is:
party line
'politicians follow' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'pretentious liberal with long clothing' is the wordplay.
'pretentious' becomes 'arty' (similar in meaning).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'with long' becomes 'pine' (to pine for someone is to long for them. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'clothing' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cover up or clothe others).
'arty'+'l'='artyl'
'artyl' inserted into 'pine' is 'PARTY LINE'.
'this' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for party line that I've seen before include "Official policy" , "politicians are expected to follow?" , "Political agenda" , "Link" , "what politician follows" .)