Return to former state only after leader's exit (6)
I believe the answer is:
egress
'exit' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'return to former state only after leader's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'leader's' could be 'es' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'es' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for egress that I've seen before include "Escape route" , "Come out" , "Taking leave" , "Issue" , "At the right moment" .)