Military officer presented by left-wing speaker as spy (12)
I believe the answer is:
collaborator
'spy' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'military officer presented by left-wing speaker' is the wordplay.
'military officer' becomes 'col' (colonel).
'presented by left wing' becomes 'lab' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'speaker' becomes 'orator' (orator is a kind of speaker).
'col'+'lab'+'orator'='COLLABORATOR'
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for collaborator that I've seen before include "who takes part in jobshare?" , "One working jointly" , "Fellow worker" , "Fellow-worker" , "Quisling" .)