Character of small time politician stifling answer (5)
I believe the answer is:
stamp
'character' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'small time politician stifling answer' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'time' becomes 't'.
'politician' becomes 'mp'.
'stifling' indicates putting letters inside.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
't'+'mp'='tmp'
'tmp' going around 'a' is 'tamp'.
's'+'tamp'='STAMP'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for stamp that I've seen before include "Philatelist's item" , "What to put on 7 before putting in 15" , "Impress (a pattern)" , "Bring foot down hard" , "Official mark; bang (foot)" .)