Leading Republican has row causing great public anger (6)
I believe the answer is:
uproar
'great public anger' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'leading republican has row' is the wordplay.
'leading' becomes 'up' (up can mean leading in a game).
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'row' becomes 'oar' (oar can mean to row with oars).
'up'+'r'+'oar'='UPROAR'
'causing' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for uproar that I've seen before include "racket" , "Loud outcry" , "Brouhaha, commotion" , "State of commotion, noise and confusion" , "Noisy tumult or fracas" .)