After leader’s changed, feels anxiety about approaches (5)
I believe the answer is:
nears
'approaches' is the definition.
('near' can be a synonym of 'approach')
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
(Other definitions for nears that I've seen before include "Draws closer to" , "Uses snare to get closer" , "Gets closer" , "advances" , "Bears down" .)