Cleverly laid Tory off (8)
I believe the answer is:
adroitly
'cleverly' is the definition.
'laid tory off' is the wordplay.
'off' is an anagram indicator.
'laid'+'tory'='laidtory'
'laidtory' anagrammed gives 'ADROITLY'.
(Other definitions for adroitly that I've seen before include "With deftness" , "With dexterity" , "Dexterously" , "far from clumsily" , "With skill and subtlety" .)