Crossword Genius

Laid off politician for being unpunctual (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dilatory

'being unpunctual' is the definition.
('dilatory' can be similar in meaning to 'unpunctual')

'laid off politician' is the wordplay.
'off' indicates anagramming the letters.
'politician' becomes 'tory' (term for a Conservative Party politician).
'laid' anagrammed gives 'dila'.
'dila'+'tory'='DILATORY'

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for dilatory that I've seen before include "Time-wasting" , "Inclined to delay" , "intended to waste time" , "Lazy - slow" , "Procrastinating" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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