Returned to power, Labour's leader admitted requirement to fix potholes (8)
I believe the answer is:
blacktop
'requirement to fix potholes' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'returned to power labour's leader admitted' is the wordplay.
'returned' becomes 'back' (I've seen this before).
'to power' becomes 'top' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'labour's leader' becomes 'l'.
'admitted' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are let in or admitted).
'back'+'top'='backtop'
'backtop' enclosing 'l' is 'BLACKTOP'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for blacktop that I've seen is " It surfaces".)