Writer showing points to a political leader (3)
I believe the answer is:
pen
'writer' is the definition.
(something which writes)
'points to a political leader' is the wordplay.
'points' becomes 'en' (compass points east and north).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'leader' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'political' is 'p'.
'en' put after 'p' is 'PEN'.
'showing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pen that I've seen before include "'The ... is mightier than the sword'" , "Writing implement" , "Shut up" , "Writing tool" , "Enclosure; a swan" .)