One occupying leadership position being stripped of power (8)
I believe the answer is:
resident
'one occupying' is the definition.
(someone occupying a place)
'position being stripped of power' is the wordplay.
'position' becomes 'crest' (I have seen 'top position' mean 'crest' so perhaps 'position' could also mean 'crest').
'being stripped' says to take the centre (outside letters removed).
'of power' becomes 'ident' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The middle letters of 'crest' are 'res'.
'res'+'ident'='RESIDENT'
'leadership' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for resident that I've seen before include "Inserted by permanent inhabitant" , "Permanent dweller" , "Inhabitant, occupant" , "settled" , "Dwelling in a place for some time" .)