Socialist - good chap - creates a university (8)
I believe the answer is:
redbrick
'a university' is the definition.
(redbrick university is a kind of university)
'socialist good chap' is the wordplay.
'socialist' becomes 'red' (socialism is often associated with the colour red).
'good chap' becomes 'brick' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'red'+'brick'='REDBRICK'
'creates' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for redbrick that I've seen before include "(Of universities) late 19th- to early 20th-century" , "Style of university" , "Non-Oxbridge" , "not Oxbridge material" , "Type of university" .)