One reluctant to join party with a large liberal elite (10)
I believe the answer is:
wallflower
'one reluctant to join' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'with a large liberal elite' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (short for with).
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'elite' becomes 'flower' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'w'+'a'+'l'+'l'+'flower'='WALLFLOWER'
'party' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wallflower that I've seen before include "Non-participant" , "one's sidelined" , "Person waiting in vain to be asked to dance" , "One lacking a partner - garden plant" , "shy sort" .)