First in election, Prime Minister assuming he has long time -- but such things are transitory! (8)
I believe the answer is:
ephemera
'first in election prime minister assuming he has long time but such things are transitory' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'first in election prime minister assuming he has long time' is the wordplay.
'first in election' becomes 'e' (1st letter of 'election').
'prime minister' becomes 'PM' (synonyms).
'assuming' is an insertion indicator.
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'long time' becomes 'era' (a long period of time).
'pm' placed around 'he' is 'phem'.
'e'+'phem'+'era'='EPHEMERA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ephemera that I've seen before include "Mayfly - something short-lived" , "Transitory things, lasting only a short time" , "they'll soon be gone" , "Something that lasts or is useful for only a short time" , "Temporary matter" .)