Influence Independent politician in General Election initially (7)
I believe the answer is:
impinge
'influence' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'independent politician in general election initially' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'politician' becomes 'mp'.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'general election' is 'ge'.
'i'+'mp'+'in'+'ge'='IMPINGE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for impinge that I've seen before include "Strike - make an impression (on)" , "Make an impact, or have bearing on" , "Make an impact, encroach" , "Encroach - strike" , "Encroach on the pig in me" .)