Booth perhaps was for polling soldiers? Wrong (8)
I believe the answer is:
assassin
'booth perhaps' is the definition.
(John Wilkes Booth is an example)
'was for polling soldiers? wrong' is the wordplay.
'for polling' means to remove the first letter (polling can mean to cut the top off a plant).
'soldiers?' becomes 'sas' (Special Air Service).
'wrong' becomes 'sin' (I've seen this before).
'was' with its initial letter taken away is 'as'.
'as'+'sas'+'sin'='ASSASSIN'
(Other definitions for assassin that I've seen before include "Political murderer" , "A killer of political or religious leader" , "hit man" , "Killer of famous person" , "Bravo!" .)