Defeats political enforcers (5)

I believe the answer is:

whips

I believe this clue is a double definition.

'defeats' is the first definition.
(whipping is a kind of defeating)

'political enforcers' is the second definition.
(whips keep discipline in political parties)

(Another definition for whips that I've seen is " Scourges".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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