Says the fellow is a politician (9)
I believe the answer is:
statesman
'politician' is the definition.
(I know that Statesman is a type of politician)
'says the fellow' is the wordplay.
'says' becomes 'states' (state can mean to say or declare).
'the fellow' becomes 'man' (fellow can mean a man).
'states'+'man'='STATESMAN'
'is a' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for statesman that I've seen before include "Experienced politician" , "Distinguished politician" , "Government minister" , "Eminent politician" , "Political leader" .)