Socialist raised close to county town (5)
I believe the answer is:
derby
'county town' is the definition.
'derby' can be an answer for 'town'. I am not sure about the 'county' bit.
'socialist raised close' is the wordplay.
'socialist' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean a socialist).
'raised' says the letters should be written backwards (going up in a down clue).
'close' becomes 'by' (I've seen this in other clues).
'red' in reverse letter order is 'der'.
'der'+'by'='DERBY'
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for derby that I've seen before include "close match?" , "Classic horse-race" , "Cathedral city on the River Derwent" , "Race run at Epsom" , "Gracefully thin" .)