Crossword Genius

Downtrodden, like Labour in the early 80s? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

underfoot

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'downtrodden' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

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(Other definitions for underfoot that I've seen before include "Little babies often are" , "on the ground" , "How things are trodden" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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