Agents following in this way Liberal Party (6)
I believe the answer is:
social
'party' is the definition.
(I know that social is a type of party)
'agents following in this way liberal' is the wordplay.
'agents' becomes 'CIA' (Central Intelligence Agency).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'in this way' becomes 'so'.
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'cia' after 'so' is 'socia'.
'socia'+'l'='SOCIAL'
(Other definitions for social that I've seen before include "Relating to human groups" , "Public servant caring for the underprivileged" , "Sort of security" , "Outgoing, extroverted" , "Liking companionship" .)