Crossword Genius

Fought ex-PM, ignoring resistance - she did this for 44 days (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tussled

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fought' is the definition.
(tussling is a kind of fighting)

'ex-pm ignoring resistance she did this for 44 days' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'did' could be 'led' (leading is a kind of doing) and 'led' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tussled that I've seen before include "was struggling" , "Struggled in a confused way" , "Fought" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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