PM's silver ring and Chinese dresses (9)
I believe the answer is:
callaghan
'pm's' is the definition.
(James Callaghan, UK prime minister 1976-1979)
'silver ring and chinese dresses' is the wordplay.
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'ring' becomes 'call' (synonyms).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'chinese' becomes 'han' (Chinese dynasty).
'dresses' is an insertion indicator (dress can mean cover).
'call'+'han'='callhan'
'ag' inserted into 'callhan' is 'CALLAGHAN'.
(Other definitions for callaghan that I've seen before include "Former PM" , "3's Labour predecessor" , "Former prime minister" .)