Podgier member, one held in proper regard initially (7)
I believe the answer is:
dumpier
'podgier' is the definition.
('dumpy' can be a synonym of 'podgy')
'member one held in proper regard initially' is the wordplay.
'member' becomes 'mp'.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'held in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'proper' becomes 'due' (I've seen this before**).
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'regard' is 'r'.
'mp'+'i'='mpi'
'mpi' inserted within 'due' is 'dumpie'.
'dumpie'+'r'='DUMPIER'
(Another definition for dumpier that I've seen is " Not so slim".)