Ministers can bite unexpectedly (7)
I believe the answer is:
cabinet
'ministers' is the definition.
(government ministers)
'can bite unexpectedly' is the wordplay.
'unexpectedly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'can'+'bite'='canbite'
'canbite' is an anagram of 'CABINET'.
(Other definitions for cabinet that I've seen before include "accommodating senior ministers" , "Collective noun for senior ministers" , "Display cupboard - senior ministers" , "some PMs dislike?" , "some senior politicians" .)