Political enforcer understood logger's requirement (7)
I believe the answer is:
whipsaw
'logger's requirement' is the definition.
(tool which might be used by a logger)
'political enforcer understood' is the wordplay.
'political enforcer' becomes 'whip' (UK political term).
'understood' becomes 'saw' ('see' can be a synonym of 'understand').
'whip'+'saw'='WHIPSAW'
(Other definitions for whipsaw that I've seen before include "means of making cuts" , "something that cuts both ways" .)