In France the party in charge is short (7)
I believe the answer is:
laconic
'short' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'in france the party in charge' is the wordplay.
'in france the' becomes 'la' (French of 'the').
'party' becomes 'con' (abbreviation for Conservative Party).
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'la'+'con'+'ic'='LACONIC'
'is' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for laconic that I've seen before include "Saying little" , "Succinct in speech" , "Conical (anag) -- brief and to the point" , "In short" , "Conical (anag) - pithy" .)