Not even then had politician started to look enticing (5)

I believe the answer is:

tempt

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

'look enticing' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'not even then had politician started to' is the wordplay.
'not even' means one should take alternating letters (remove even-numbered letters).
'had' says to put letters next to each other.
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'started' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'starts' mean this).
The alternating letters of 'then' are 'te'.
'to' with its final letter removed is 't'.
'te'+'mp'+'t'='TEMPT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tempt that I've seen before include "Entice (to sin)" , "Allure, entice" , "Scaly mammal" , "Entice - persuade" , "Coax" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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