Whip coats politician in creamy cheese (9)
I believe the answer is:
camembert
'creamy cheese' is the definition.
'whip coats politician' is the wordplay.
'whip' becomes 'cat' (cat o' nine tails, cat for short is a type of whip).
'coats' indicates putting letters inside.
'politician' becomes 'member'.
'cat' going around 'member' is 'CAMEMBERT'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for camembert that I've seen before include "Soft creamy French cheese" , "French produce" , "dairy product" , "soft fare" , "Soft rich cheese as made in Normandy" .)