I take politicians to be mischief makers! (4)
I believe the answer is:
imps
'be mischief makers' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'i take politicians' is the wordplay.
'take' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'politicians' becomes 'MPs' (Members of Parliament).
'i'+'mps'='IMPS'
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for imps that I've seen before include "Troublemakers" , "Little monkeys?" , "Mischievous spirits" , "Little devils or scamps" , "Mischievous fairies" .)