Specialist rave for candidate? (7)
I believe the answer is:
entrant
'candidate?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'specialist rave' is the wordplay.
'specialist' becomes 'ent' (abbreviation of ear nose and throat).
'rave' becomes 'rant' (synonyms).
'ent'+'rant'='ENTRANT'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for entrant that I've seen before include "Someone signing up for a competition" , "New participant" , "One taking part in a race or competition" , "Someone coming in" , "Newcomer" .)