Current politician played a role and had influence (8)
I believe the answer is:
impacted
'had influence' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'current politician played a role' is the wordplay.
'current' becomes 'I' (symbol for electric current).
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'played a role' becomes 'acted' (I've seen this in another clue).
'i'+'mp'+'acted'='IMPACTED'
'and' is the link.
(Other definitions for impacted that I've seen before include "Of tooth, wedged between another tooth and jaw" , "Had an effect upon" , "Wedged or packed in together, as a tooth say" , "Crushed" , "Wedged firmly" .)