Flattering article penned by a mostly uninspiring politician (9)
I believe the answer is:
adulatory
'flattering' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'article penned by a mostly uninspiring politician' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'penned by' indicates putting letters inside.
'mostly uninspiring' becomes 'dul' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'politician' becomes 'tory' (term for a Conservative Party politician).
'dul'+'tory'='dultory'
'a' going within 'dultory' is 'dulatory'.
'a'+'dulatory'='ADULATORY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adulatory that I've seen before include "like a spaniel?" , "full of puff?" , "Sycophantic" , "Flattering" .)