Conservative conned the country (4)
I believe the answer is:
chad
'the country' is the definition.
(Chad is an example)
'conservative conned' is the wordplay.
'conservative' becomes 'c' (abbreviation commonly used in UK politics).
'conned' becomes 'had' (a conned person might say 'I've been had!').
'c'+'had'='CHAD'
(Other definitions for chad that I've seen before include "article put out by Punch?" , "hanging has helped elect president?" , "Punched paper; African nation" , "N central African country" , "Large, shallow lake in north central Africa" .)