Crossword Genius

Political party's mounts? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alps

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'mounts?' is the definition.
(alp is a kind of mount)

'political party's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'party' could be 'l' and 'l' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'aps' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alps that I've seen before include "Slopes" , "European mountain range" , "Mountains in Central Europe" , "Mountain system in south-central Europe" , "Mountain system, highest peak Mont Blanc" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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