Intending to keep home counties, getting control (7,4)
I believe the answer is:
driving seat
'control' is the definition.
(being in the driving seat is being in control)
'intending to keep home counties' is the wordplay.
'intending' becomes 'driving at' (what someone intends is what they're driving at).
'to keep' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'home counties' becomes 'se' (Home Counties in the South East of England).
'drivingat' placed around 'se' is 'DRIVING SEAT'.
'getting' is the link.
(Other definitions for driving seat that I've seen before include "In which one is in control of a process" , "Controlling position" .)