Leader with the respect due to me? (10)
I believe the answer is:
pacesetter
'leader' is the definition.
(person who leads others by setting a standard)
'with the respect due to me?' is the wordplay.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'the respect due' becomes 'pace' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to me?' becomes 'setter' (the person that set this crossword).
'pace' next to 'setter' is 'PACESETTER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pacesetter that I've seen before include "Someone making the early running" , "One establishing standard" , "One determining starting speed of a race" , "Runner" , "One who's performance gives the standard for others to reach" .)