Sanctimonious abstainer in politics once (4)

I believe the answer is:

pitt

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'politics once' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'sanctimonious abstainer' is the wordplay.
'sanctimonious' becomes 'pi'.
'abstainer' becomes 'tt' (I've seen this in other clues).
'pi'+'tt'='PITT'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pitt that I've seen before include "William - the Younger, twice PM" , "William --, early PM" , "One of two Tory prime ministers" , "Former Prime Minister" , "Brad --, US actor" .)

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