Forgives former Conservative practices (7)
I believe the answer is:
excuses
'forgives' is the definition.
(excusing is a kind of forgiving)
'former conservative practices' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'conservative' becomes 'C' (UK political abbreviation).
'practices' becomes 'uses' (use is a kind of practice).
'ex'+'c'+'uses'='EXCUSES'
(Other definitions for excuses that I've seen before include "Lets (someone) off duty" , "reasons for failure" , "Defences of objective behaviour" , "Gives reasons for" , "Exempts or condones" .)