Crossword Genius

Politician a long time getting a bill out, possibly (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

liberal

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

'politician a long' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'time getting a bill out possibly' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'time' could be 'era' (an era is a period of time) and 'era' is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'bill' is 'libl' which is present in the left over letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for liberal that I've seen before include "Large-minded" , "Bountiful" , "Progressive -- open-handed" , "Favouring a political philosophy of progress and reform" , "Giving generously" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.