European member is in government doing woeful work (9)
I believe the answer is:
elegising
'doing woeful work' is the definition.
(writing an elegy, a woeful work)
'european member is in government' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'member' becomes 'leg' (member can mean a limb).
'government' becomes 'g' (abbreviation for government).
'e'+'leg'+'is'+'in'+'g'='ELEGISING'
I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution?
Install my app