Ali dries out for the former British prime minister (8)
I believe the answer is:
disraeli
'ali dries out for the former british prime minister' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for disraeli that I've seen before include "Jane Austen novel" , "Benjamin ........ 19th century English P.M." , "I lead, sir (anag) - British PM, d. 1881" , "Benjamin -, nineteenth century PM" , "Queen Victoria's favourite prime minister, d. 1881" .)