Irrational politician played reel about new flower (9)
I believe the answer is:
pimpernel
'flower' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'irrational politician played reel about new' is the wordplay.
'irrational politician' becomes 'pimp' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'played' is an anagram indicator (letters playing around).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'reel' anagrammed gives 'erel'.
'erel' placed around 'n' is 'ernel'.
'pimp'+'ernel'='PIMPERNEL'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pimpernel that I've seen before include "Sir Percy Blakeney was a scarlet one" , "The Scarlet - (Orczy)" , "of the English aristocracy once sought after in Paris?" , "Low-growing plant" , "The Scarlet ..., aka Sir Percy Blakeney" .)