Poor American lad losing heart, like some senior councillors (10)
I believe the answer is:
aldermanic
'poor american lad losing heart like some senior councillors' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'poor american lad losing heart' is the wordplay.
'poor' indicates an anagram.
'losing heart' suggests removing the centre.
'lad' with its centre taken out is 'ld'.
'american'+'ld'='americanld'
'americanld' with letters rearranged gives 'ALDERMANIC'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aldermanic that I've seen before include "civic dignitary thus described?" , "Like council member" , "Old councillor's" , "of civic dignitaries" .)