European sailor clutching second leading light? (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
pole star
'leading light?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'european sailor clutching second' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'pole' (Pole is an example).
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (tar is a kind of sailor).
'clutching' is an insertion indicator.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'pole'+'tar'='poletar'
'poletar' placed around 's' is 'POLE STAR'.
(Other definitions for pole star that I've seen before include "Polaris" , "It's the brightest one in Ursa Minor" , "A guiding principle" , "Part of the Little Bear" , "leading light" .)