Democrat, national leader once (8)

I believe the answer is:

disraeli

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'leader once' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'democrat national' is the wordplay.
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'national' becomes 'israeli' (someone from Israel).
'd'+'israeli'='DISRAELI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for disraeli that I've seen before include "Benjamin --, former PM" , "One of Queen Victoria's prime ministers" , "Benjamin -, nineteenth century prime minister" , "British PM and novelist" , "Ideal, sir for old English prime minister" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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