From part of empire, perhaps: no one local, sadly (8)
I believe the answer is:
colonial
'from part of empire' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'no one local sadly' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'sadly' indicates an anagram.
'no'+'i'+'local'='noilocal'
'noilocal' anagrammed gives 'COLONIAL'.
'perhaps' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for colonial that I've seen before include "Of places ruled by distant governments" , "Like America before independence" , "Of a geographical area politically controlled by a distant country" , "Living in dependency" , "Relating to overseas dominions" .)