Being ruled out the politician appears crushed (7)
I believe the answer is:
rumpled
'politician appears crushed' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'being ruled out' is the wordplay.
'being' becomes 'mp' (MP is an example).
'out' indicates putting letters inside.
'mp' inserted into 'ruled' is 'RUMPLED'.
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rumpled that I've seen before include "Scruffy" , "Wrinkled or creased" , "in disordered fashion" .)