Beginning of popular poem by Welsh conservative writer (10)
I believe the answer is:
playwright
'writer' is the definition.
(playwright is a kind of writer)
'beginning of popular poem by welsh conservative' is the wordplay.
'beginning of' indicates taking the first letters.
'poem' becomes 'lay' (lay is a kind of poem).
'by welsh' becomes 'w' (I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'conservative' becomes 'right' (associated in meaning).
The first letter of 'popular' is 'p'.
'p'+'lay'+'w'+'right'='PLAYWRIGHT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for playwright that I've seen before include "Stoppard or Pinter, for example" , "Dramatist" , "Coward, for example" , "Shakespeare perhaps" , "Coward, possibly" .)