Communist harbouring artist almost elected (8)
I believe the answer is:
returned
'elected' is the definition.
(returning is a kind of electing)
'communist harbouring artist almost' is the wordplay.
'communist' becomes 'red' (red is a kind of communist).
'harbouring' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'artist' becomes 'turner' (painter JMW Turner).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'turner' with its last letter taken off is 'turne'.
'red' enclosing 'turne' is 'RETURNED'.
(Other definitions for returned that I've seen before include "Went, came or gave back" , "dishonoured by the bank" , "Sent back" , "Honoured by the electorate" , "Went, came or brought back" .)