The present for a shifty toady (5)
I believe the answer is:
today
'the present' is the definition.
(today is a kind of present)
'a shifty toady' is the wordplay.
'a shifty' is an anagram indicator.
'toady' with letters rearranged gives 'TODAY'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for today that I've seen before include "Current period of 24 hours" , "Nowadays" , "one of our papers, once" , "The present time or age" , "Yesterday's tomorrow" .)