“A sorry tale”, cries right-winger (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
sob story
'a sorry tale' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'cries right-winger' is the wordplay.
'cries' becomes 'sobs' (sobbing is a kind of crying).
'right-winger' becomes 'Tory' (Tory is an example).
'sobs'+'tory'='SOB-STORY'
(Other definitions for sob story that I've seen before include "Tale of misfortune" , "Pathetic tale" , "unhappy tale" , "appeal to emotions" , "Tale to gain sympathy" .)