How sad it can be for those hoping one day to rule (6,7)
I believe the answer is:
shadow cabinet
'those hoping one day to rule' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.
'how sad it can be' is the wordplay.
'how' becomes 'shadow' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sad' is an anagram indicator.
'it'+'can'+'be'='itcanbe'
'itcanbe' is an anagram of 'cabinet'.
'shadow'+'cabinet'='SHADOW CABINET'
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shadow cabinet that I've seen before include "Opposition's leaders" , "Opposition frontbenchers" , "leading members of the opposition" , "MPs of ministerial rank in Opposition" , "Policy-making group of opposition party" .)