A fabulous figure - a centrist politician and a graduate … (3,4)
I believe the answer is:
ali baba
'a fabulous figure' is the definition.
(from the folktale 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves')
'a centrist politician and a graduate' is the wordplay.
'centrist politician' becomes 'lib' (abbreviation for liberal).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'graduate' becomes 'ba'.
'a'+'lib'+'a'+'ba'='ALI BABA'
(Other definitions for ali baba that I've seen before include "One thousand and one Nights character" , "Pantomime hero who contended with 40 thieves" , "fabulous character" , "1001 Nights hero" , "One with forty theives" .)