Independent party next for devotee (8)
I believe the answer is:
idolater
'devotee' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'independent party next' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'party' becomes 'do' (do is a kind of party).
'next' becomes 'later' (I've seen this in other clues).
'i'+'do'+'later'='IDOLATER'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for idolater that I've seen before include "Heathen" , "devotee" , "Worshipper of false gods" , "Huge admirer" , "Tailored like pagan worshipper" .)