Relief coming to a stop after leader quits (6)
I believe the answer is:
easing
'relief' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'coming to a stop after leader quits' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'leader' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sing' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for easing that I've seen before include "Relieving tension" , "Becoming less severe" , "Allaying, alleviating" , "relaxing" , "comforting" .)