They are related to southern politicians (7)
I believe the answer is:
stories
'they are related' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.
'southern politicians' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'politicians' becomes 'tories' (informal term for the Conservative Party).
's'+'tories'='STORIES'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stories that I've seen before include "See 21" , "Lies" , "See 12" , "Accounts" , "For example, scoops" .)