Plant keys on politician (7)

I believe the answer is:
factory
'plant keys' is the definition.
'factory' can be an answer for 'plant' (I've seen this in another clue). I am not certain of the 'keys' bit.
'politician' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'politician' could be 'tory' (term for a Conservative Party politician) and 'tory' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'on' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for factory that I've seen before include "Manufacturing plant" , "mill" , "Things are made here" , "Place for production" , "Works" .)
