Former Tory leader Bowles regularly praises (6)
I believe the answer is:
extols
'praises' is the definition.
(extolling is a kind of praising)
'former tory leader bowles regularly' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'leader' says to take the initial letters.
'regularly' indicates alternate letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
The first letter of 'tory' is 't'.
The alternating letters of 'bowles' are 'ols'.
'ex'+'t'+'ols'='EXTOLS'
(Other definitions for extols that I've seen before include "Enthusiastically praises" , "Praises highly, lauds" , "'Praises, lauds (6)'" , "Sings the praises of" .)