Spirits depressing Conservative voter's tale (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
short story
'voter's tale' is the definition.
'short story' can be an answer for 'tale' (I've seen this before). I'm not certain of the 'voter's' bit.
'spirits depressing conservative' is the wordplay.
'spirits' becomes 'shorts' (short can mean a drink of spirits).
'depressing conservative' becomes 'tory' (Tory means a member of the Conservative Party. I am not sure about the 'depressing' bit.).
'shorts'+'tory'='SHORT STORY'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for short story that I've seen before include "tale" , "That's hardly novel" , "account limited by definition" , "little romance, say?" , "not much material to take in" .)