Issue is open, if Conservative becomes quiet (7)
I believe the answer is:
publish
'issue' is the definition.
(I know that issue can be written as publish)
'is open if conservative becomes quiet' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'is' is within the answer.
'quiet' could be 'p' (music symbol for 'piano', ie soft or quiet) and 'p' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for publish that I've seen before include "Make generally known" , "Damned if I do!" , "Get into print" , "Issue (a book/magazine)" , "Issue, make known" .)