Long a national capital, it may be shorter (5)

I believe the answer is:

berne

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'be shorter' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'long a national capital it' is the wordplay.
'long' becomes 'ber' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'capital' says to take the initial letters.
'it' becomes 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT').
The first letter of 'national' is 'n'.
'ber'+'n'+'e'='BERNE'

'may' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for berne that I've seen before include "Capital of Switzerland" , "Swiss capital" , "Swiss city (1886 copyright convention)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app